The boys were heartbroken for Dave. After Julie stormed out of their place, Dave had clammed up and was only emitting the occasional, world-weary sigh. The boys were at a loss, but they figured that tidying up the mess they made and doing the dishes would at least be a distraction. Dave, meanwhile, had shut himself in his room and was forlornly watching TV.

The boys wanted nothing more than for him to feel better soon. They loved him like a dad, and it killed them to see him so down. They thought that maybe some words of encouragement would help, even a little bit.

"Don't worry, Dave," Simon said. "You deserve so much better than her, anyway."

"Yeah," Alvin said. "I never liked her very much."

"She never would have made a great mom," Theodore added.

Dave just sighed, still devastated over Julie walking out on him. The boys continued cleaning the rest of the house. They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"I got it!" Theodore said. He rushed to the door, only to be greeted by a mysterious figure who suddenly snatched him up. Before the other boys could react, the figure had also grabbed Alvin and Simon and then bolted out the door, leaving no trace behind. The unknown figure was no other than the greedy landlord, laughing manically as he threw the boys in three separate kid-sized cages.

"Hey!", shouted Alvin, "Let us out of here before I..." The landlord slammed his fist on Alvin's cage.

"Quiet you!", he said, "You three have been nothing but trouble since you showed up and I'm finally going to get rid of you once and for all."

"W-What are you going to do with us", said Theodore, scared out of his mind. The Landlord just smiled menacingly.

"Well", he said, "Seville is once again late in the rent, so I think you three will make the difference." Alvin, Simon, and Theodore looked at each other in fear as they sat in the back of the landlord's golf cart. The landlord began talking to someone on the phone about getting rid of them and they grew even more terrified. What was going to happen?

Meanwhile back in the cabin, Dave was at his wit's end. In one hand, he clutched the papers from the nearby orphanage. In the other, he held an old photo of him and the chipmunks when they were much younger.

"They're such a handful, and they make my life even harder than it already is," Dave muttered to himself. "But I'm sure going to miss them."

Dave seemed to have made his decision. He stood up from his bed and ambled to the living room. To his surprise, the house was half-cleaned, and the boys were nowhere in sight. Then, to his horror, he noticed the door wide open.

"Oh no!", he cried. He dropped the orphanage papers and rushed out the door, calling for his boys and praying they'd hear him.

"SIMON!"

"THEODORE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNN!"

He looked everywhere through the forest as he grew more and more worried. Just then, he had a realization.

"The landlord!", Dave exclaimed. He raced out of the woods and towards the landlord's house. Dave ran for so long and his lungs were burning and his legs felt like they were made of jelly. But, he couldn't stop now. He had to find the boys.

The landlord drove the chipmunks farther and farther away from their home. They had no way of knowing where they were going, and they were too scared to find out. Through the tiny holes of their cage, the boys could only grab each other's fingers for comfort.
Suddenly, the golf cart came to a screeching halt. The boys looked up and saw a large sign that read "CITY ZOO." They exchanged terrified glances. A zoo employee approached the landlord, who simply smiled.

"Here we are! Three rare, human-sized chipmunks," he said, "ready for the exhibit." The Chipmunks gasped in horror.
"You sold us to the zoo?!" Alvin exclaimed. The landlord just slammed his fist on the cage.
"And they talk?!" the zookeeper said excitedly.
"Like parrots," the landlord replied, "Just hand over the money and they're yours."
The boys were even more frightened now. They couldn't believe that the landlord would sell them to the zoo just for a quick buck. They had to get out of there, but they didn't know how. Simon looked at his worried brothers, then back to the landlord and noticed something. As the landlord and the zookeeper talked about money exchange, Alvin spotted the keys to the cages on the landlord's hip. An idea struck.

"Psst! Alvin," he whispered, "Grab the key!" Simon nodded and reached out for the landlord's hip, but it was too far. Simon had to think of something fast, but the landlord grabbed Alvin's cage before he could act.

"Ok, little guy," said the landlord, rubbing Alvin's chin, "It's time for you to..."
Just then, Alvin bit the landlord, who screamed and staggered backwards towards Simon's cage. The landlord fell and Simon quickly grabbed the keys from his hips. With quick thinking, Simon unlocked his cage and jumped on the landlord's face, throwing the keys towards Alvin. Alvin unlocked his door and jumped out of his cage. The zookeeper tried to help, but ended up getting tripped by Alvin's foot. Alvin threw the keys back to Simon and Simon unlocked Theodore's cage. The three chipmunks were free, and they weren't planning on staying. They ran as fast as they could, dodging and weaving through the zoo with the zookeeper and the landlord in hot pursuit.

"Quick! This way!" said Alvin as he jumped a guard rail. Simon and Theodore were too scared to think rationally, so they followed suit. The landlord and the zookeeper raced by as the boys slumped back, trying to catch their breath.

"Phew!", said Simon, whipping the sweat off his forehead, "Nice to see you using your brain for once."

"Not really, that landlord doesn't wash his hands," Alvin said, grimacing as the taste of something he didn't want to think about lingered in his boys looked around their surroundings, trying to place where they were. Then, Theodore spotted something that looked delicious.
"Guys, look! Eggs!", he said, "Oh Boy, I'm starving!"

Before Alvin and Simon could react, Theodore was rushing toward the eggs. As they ran after him, Alvin and Simon took in their strange environment. It was covered in sand, toys, and bowls for food and water.

"I'm pretty sure this isn't the prairie dog exhibit", said Simon.

As soon as the words left his mouth, they heard a hiss.

"Oh, so when you joke around in a serious situation it's okay?", Simon snapped at Alvin, "But when I do it—"

Alvin shushed him, and turned his head. Slithering toward them was their "new hostess,"

a large, mean, and very hungry rattlesnake.