Title: The Journey

This is a story I wrote for Nanowrimo 2011. 

Presenting...

The Journey

THE SQUIRRELS: BOOK 1

THE JOURNEY

By

Me

1

Mike’s heart thumped in his chest as he ran around a corner. On his right and left were his two friends, Justin and Kevin.

“This way, guys!” Kevin veered to the right, where there was a small ditch. The three squirrels leaped into the trench. In was muddy, and it smelled bad, but at least they had gotten away from those men. Mike shuddered as he remembered. The three friends had been playing nutball, until suddenly, about five men came running towards them with a large web connected to a pole, in his hand. The three squirrels had ran and escaped, so far. Suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, Mike was heaved into the air, tail dangling. A man had captured him! He struggled in the white web, but he couldn’t escape! He glimpsed Kevin and Justin, also dangling in the webs.

“Stupid web, I can’t bite through it!” Kevin struggled frustratedly, nipping at the thick web holding him.

”Silly man, you mean! What a beast!” Justin was also struggling to escape the thick web. Suddenly Michael was dumped into a shiny box with slits on the sides. Justin and Kevin were dumped on top of him.

“Ow, get off my tail, Kevin!” Michael screeched in pain.

“Sorry,” Kevin crawled off him. Suddenly, a man picked up the shiny box they were inside and it started swinging as they were carried toward a big, white, metalshell. As they came closer, Kevin exclaimed,

“Oh wow! Look at all those squirrels!” The metalshell’s insides were filled with silver boxes like their own. In the boxes, there were squirrels! The man set them down inside the metalshell. then there was a scraping sound as darkness enfolded the squirrels, with confused squeaks coming from the shiny boxes around Mike’s own box. Then, suddenly, the boxes jerked towards the door as the metalshell started moving.

Mike shook his head groggily. He looked around the place he was in. It was a cramped, untidy room with white walls. He saw Kevin and Justin next to him. Justin was awake.

“Where do you think we are?” Mike asked Justin.

“I don’t know. I think we’re inside a building.” Mike looked around some more. He saw a hole on the wall with some hard clear stuff covering it. Outside, he saw a road and a some shiny pegs stuck into the ground. Suddenly there was a sound. Mike and Justin whipped their heads around, to see a big brown rectangle on the wall opening. a man came in, wearing a white coat and goggles on his eyes. He was also wearing fakehands, like the people who captured the three squirrels in the webs. His eyes surveyed all of the squirrels. then he started moving towards Mike’s shiny box. By this time, Kevin was awake, staring at the man with his eyes wide, as he edged to the back of the shiny box. The man opened the door of the shiny box, which Mike hadn’t noticed before. The man reached in and grabbed Mike as he struggled to get out of the man’s hands.

“Help!” Mike screeched at Kevin and Justin, but the man had already closed the door to the shiny box, and Kevin and Justin could do nothing but ram into the door of the shiny box. Mike was set down on  a hard, cold surface. then the man stuck a shiny thing into his side. He struggled, but the man held him down tight, murmuring things. the man finally took the shiny thing out of Mike. Mike sighed with relief, and he was set down in his cage once more. just as the man was reaching for Kevin, there was a sound. The man turned around.

“Come in,” he said.

A man walked in.

“So what are we doing now?”

“The squirrels. we’re going to test the formula on them to see if it really makes them bigger, stronger, and smarter.”

“When will the change begin?”

“In a week, if we keep them in good exercise, the change should start. they should grow half their size more, and their muscles should be strong enough to lift fifty pounds, and they should learn to read very easily”

The man raised his eyebrows.

“You really think that will happen?”

“If all goes well, yes.”

Mike sat in the shiny box, which he learned was called a cage. He watched as Justin ran down the long metal corridor outside the cage. Justin disappeared around a corner and Mike heard his feet thumping on the metal as he ran. Mike had already learned to read, and he noticed that the three of them had grown bigger. He also noticed that their colorings were changing. He was slowly turning beige, and Kevin was turning a fiery orange, and Justin was turning black. Suddenly Mike heard a sound. Justin was back in the cage. Then suddenly Mike was picked up and placed in the metal corridor. He walked down the corridor. He sniffed the air. There was a nut somewhere near! He took a right, and then a left. The smell was growing stronger! But wait! This was a dead end! The nut must be on the other side! Mike dashed back the way he’d come, and then took a right, then a left, and there was the nut! He reached for it, but then, so suddenly, he was picked up again and placed in the cage. He wriggled and let out an angry yell. But the man was too strong for him. Kevin went after he was placed into the cage.

Here was the next test. Mike had to jump up on some ledges to get a nut at the very top. He looked at the first ledge. it was about 12 feet high. he bunched his muscles, ready to spring. Then he was in the air! He whizzed through the air and land right on top of the ledge. He heard the man make a low sound. Mike looked up for the next ledge. This one was maybe a foot higher than the first. He leaped, and again, landed perfectly. He glanced up. One more ledge, about 18 feet high. He wasn’t sure if he could make it or not. But he bunched his muscles and sprang up into the air. Almost there... He thought as he flew through the air. He was losing speed, and the ledge was just a few inches in front of him! He clawed fiercely, and... He was hanging off the edge of the ledge! He gave himself a heave, and he was up on the ledge! He grabbed the nut and cracked it open and started eating. Justin and Kevin cheered from below. After he finished the nut, he wiped his paw on his chest and leaped down the 31 feet to the ground. He landed, rolled to spread the impact, and then got up and walked towards Kevin and Justin.

“Mighty good, jump, Mike!” Kevin said, and Justin nodded his agreement.

The months passed, and it soon grew cold in the little room they lived in. If only we could escape from this dreary place Mike thought. That day, he talked to a dark brown squirrel in the cage next to his.

“Hello there! What’s your name?” The squirrel turned to look at him with dark eyes.

“My name is Ace. Mighty boring in here, isn’t it?” Mike looked out the window at the cold snow.

“Sure is. I was thinking of escaping this old place. Even out in that snow would be better than all these tests we do here. I wonder why they test us so much?” The brown squirrel waved his tail.

“Escaping? That reminds me. A few days ago, one of my cagemates was doing a test, and the scientist forgot to close the door. So I climbed out of the cage, and I went over there to the big door over there, and I nudged it open. And there was a long hallway, and there was a door at the very end of the hall, and light was flooding through it! It was the way outside!” Mike found this very interesting, and as they talked some more, he found this squirrel very observant. He claimed to know how to open the cages! So Mike told him that he would meet Ace outside the cage that night.

“All righty, lets open up that cage of yours!” Ace and his cagemates had gotten out of their cage and now, one of Ace’s cagemates, a dark blue squirrel named Martin was fumbling with the door of Mike’s cage.

“Oop, there we go!” The door swung open with a click.

“Thanks Martin,” Mike, Justin and Kevin climbed out of the cage. The squirrels in the cages around them watched silently. Then a white squirrel stepped forward.

“If you squirrels are escaping, we want to come with you.” The other squirrels in cages around him chattered in agreement. Mike exchanged a look with Ace. Why not?.

“Sure you can come with us. We’ll open your cages up now” Ace said as he nudged Martin and his other cagemate, Christopher, a dark yellow squirrel forward to open the 5 cages the other squirrels were in. The white squirrel, named Victor climbed out of his cage and turned to Mike and Ace.

“Thank you.” He said.

Mike and Ace nodded.

After all the squirrels were out of their cages, about 21 squirrels, they moved in a flood towards the door, with Mike and Ace and their cagemates leading them. Ace and Justin shoved the big brown door open and the squirrels streamed into the hallway.

“You, me, and our cagemates will push against the door over there.” He waved his tail at the glass door. Then, the squirrels charged towards the door. BAM! They hit the door, but it didn’t open.

“Hey, maybe that has something to do with it!” Justin waved his tail at the lock. Mike and Ace leaped up onto the door handle.

“Hold me tight so I won’t fall.” Mike started to lean towards the lock.

He fumbled with it, and then he heard it click.

“I think it should be good.” Ace and Mike scrambled down and pushed against the door with their strong, large bodies. They were fully grown, almost as big as cats. The door opened, and the squirrels were blasted with cold air. Mike shivered as he leaped over a pile of snow. Then, the 21 squirrels, moved as one, speeding down the road.

“Where do you think we should go?” Mike asked Ace as the cold wind bit his face.

“I don’t know, but let’s keep heading this way.” The squirrels continued on for about an hour. The number of buildings was decreasing, and the road was still empty.

“Look for someplace with trees,” Ace muttered to Mike.

After some time, the squirrels stopped to rest. There was a house nearby. No sounds were coming from it, and it was very dark and dirty.

“How about exploring that house?” Mike asked Ace.

Ace peered at the house.

“Yes, pick seven squirrels to go with you.” Mike picked Kevin, Martin, Victor, Christopher, and three others called Sprint, Storm, and Fang. They moved in a V shape, with Mike running point. They clambered up the porch steps, then rammed against the door, which broke at the hinges and hung there. The squirrels stared at the door’s weakness and then continued on inside. It was an old house. They split up and explored the living room. They found nothing, but a few books. Mike took one called “The Boy Scouts guide to survival” and anther one called “Weaponry making” . They explored the whole house, and found nothing interesting except the bathroom. They were fascinated by the sink, which they could turn on and watch the water run. After they had done exploring, they headed towards the door. Suddenly they heard a low hissing voice.

“You will dieeeee…” Mike spun around.

There were rats! Rats were everywhere! Suddenly, the rats lunged at the squirrels, clearly outnumbering them. Mike flung the books he was holding onto the porch for getting later, then he writhed as two rats tackled him. There was yowling and shrieking all around him as the rats sunk their teeth into his large body. He yowled and bit down hard on a rat, tasting blood as he flung it away as it screamed in pain. Then he realized that he had five rats on his back! He flung himself into the air, and then flung himself down to the ground, hard, dislodging the screaming rats. He heard a sound and whipped around. The rest of the squirrels had arrived! Suddenly he felt a rat on his back. He rolled over and crushed it under his back. Then he looked around to see if anyone needed help. He saw Fang wrestling with ten squirrels as they bit into his dark green fur. Mike screeched and flung himself at the squirrels covering Fang. He bit one and flung it off, and scratched another one, and then rammed one with his powerful muscles. Fang got up and started ramming them too. Then the rest of the squirrels followed them and they all rammed the rats as one. They plowed through the rats, slow but strong.  

“They’re retreating!” someone yelled as the rats started to disperse.

The squirrels watched as the rats clambered into holes in the wall.

2

The squirrels continued down the road, with Mike’s two books on their backs. The land was starting to get more hilly, and by now, the sun was already high in the sky. they’d been traveling for hours! It seemed like they were in the countryside, Mike thought. Suddenly, Ace let out a shout.

“Trees ahead!”

Everyone cheered and the pace picked up as they sped towards the large clump of trees ahead.

Dr. Wood parked his car outside his lab. “I wonder how my squirrels are doing,” he thought. He started to insert his key into the door, but then he realized it wasn’t locked! “That’s strange... I could have sworn I locked this door” He pushed the nagging thought to the back of his mind as he went down the hall to the squirrel’s room. He was about to turn the knob. But the door was open! He had a very bad feeling as he entered the room. Yes, the squirrels were gone!

The squirrels entered the wood, cautiously. Now that they had found a place with trees, they needed a place to set up their camp.
    “Here, Mike. How about we split up the guys into four groups? Three of five, and one of  six?” Ace asked Mike.
    “Sure. You and I can lead one each, and I think that victor wouldn’t be any bad at leading one.”
    “All right, and for the last group?”

“Chris and Martin can lead that one.”

So the squirrels split up. Mike had Justin, Kevin, Fang, and Storm in his group. Mike headed off easterly into the woods. They walked along for a while, sniffing trees, and looking inside them. Suddenly, they came upon a hole in the ground. Mike motioned for them to follow him into it. they walked down the musty tunnel for about five feet, and then the tunnel started slanting dangerously upward. The squirrels dug their claws into the soft dirt and climbed up the steep slope. It was a very, very long time before Storm shouted.

“There’s light up ahead!”

The squirrels picked up their pace towards the light. Finally they burst out of the tunnel. Mike looked around. They were on a tall hill overlooking the woods below. There was some large boulders on Mike’s right, and on his left was some grass and plants. Straight ahead of  him was a small patch of trees. This place would do well for camp.

“Do you think this would do?” He asked the squirrels around him.

They all nodded.

“Then let’s go back down this hill to meet the others at the gate just outside the wood.”

They went down the hill instead of using the tunnel, so they could explore some different places on their way back. They trotted down the hill, leaping over an occasional rock. Suddenly, the hill steepened to almost ninety degrees downward! It was a cliff! Mike looked down the cliff. It was about forty feet to the ground. The squirrels knew they could make it. They all leaped at the same time, bracing themselves for when they landed. They all landed, and the ground shuddered slightly. The squirrels started racing towards the edge of the woods. Suddenly, a lithe shape leaped out from behind a tree!

3

The squirrels stared in horror at the orange shape streaking toward them. They turned to face it. Mike braced himself. Then he saw the slavering jaws of the fox and winced, imagining how much those teeth could do to a normal sized squirrel. Then the fox was only a few feet away from the squirrels! The squirrels braced their legs, ready to leap at the fox’s snout. Mike closed his eyes tight, and tensed. just as he was about to leap, he heard a startled grunt near him. He opened one eye, then stared in astonishment. The squirrels around him also stared. The fox had stopped, and was now panting. It looked very friendly, in fact! Suddenly, as if it not killing them had been amazing enough, it talked!
    “Hi you guys. I’ve never seen any squirrels as big as you guys! Wow, you guys are like, half my size! Oh yeah, my name is Feezo, What are your guys’s names?” The young fox sniffed at the five squirrels. Before any of them could say anything, it spoke again.

“Oh gosh, and what strange colors you guys are! Wow, and your fur is really long! Wow, I’ve never seen a green squirrel before!” He sniffed at Fang.

“What’s your name?” He asked Fang.

“Er... My name’s Fang.”

“Oh nice name! How about you guys?” He turned his large, rolling head towards the four other squirrels.

Mike introduced them. He quite liked this young fox.

“So where do you guys live right now?”

“Nowhere at the present. But we found a big hill over there that just might do for our home.” Mike replied.

“You guys already explored that place?”

“Yes, we did. It’s a very nice hill, well protected from attacks, because it’s very high up, and it’s also steep”

“How did you guys get up there? You guys are like the first animals ever up there!”

“It isn’t that difficult for us. We’re stronger than most squirrels.” To demonstrate, he leapt a full thirty feet.

“How did you guys get that strong?” Feezo’s eyes were wide in astonishment.

Mike told him their story. When he finished, Feezo exclaimed.

“So there’s still more of you? Well I suppose you should be meeting them soon. I bet theyre wondering wherever you guys are. Hey, can I come and meet them with you guys?”

“Sure. Let’s go.”

The squirrels raced through the woods with the fox panting right behind them. As they burst out of the woods, they saw all the other squirrels gathered at the fence. They stared in astonishment as they saw the big fox behind Mike’s group. They all tensed. But then Feezo jollily greeted them.
    “Sorry Mike’s late. We got a little carried away talking about life and stuff.”
Some squirrels, warmed by Feezo’s friendliness, slid next to him and started talking. As for Mike, he slipped next to Ace.
    “He’s a friendly guy. We met him in the woods just now on our way back here. Oh yeah, we also found a place.”
    “Where is it?”
    “It’s over in the far side of the woods. It’s a nice hill, but it’s the steepest hill I’ve ever seen! We got there through a little tunnel, but we came down the hill. we had to jump the steep part though. It was about a forty feet drop.”

“No problem we’ll have with that. Hey, I think that fox you met would be a good guard for us, don’t you think? He’s in good shape, and he’s young. And didn’t you say he lives near the hill?”

    “Oh yes, he does. Let’s go ask him if he would mind being a guard. Oh, and by the way, his name’s Feezo.”
   
The squirrels walked through the woods. Feezo had agreed to be a guard for them, so now he was in the front, walking next to Mike. Recently, Mike and Ace’s muscle had been growing stronger, and where other squirrels had stopped growing, now Mike and Ace were three fourths of Feezo’s size! Mike was sure he could jump more than seventy feet now. After resting a few days, the squirrels were finally ready to take a look at the hill. So now Mike and Ace and Feezo were leading the squirrels towards the hill. Mike could already see the hill up ahead. He heard a rustling sound. He looked up. A small, normal sized squirrel was running down a branch, eyes wide. Mike chuckled. He’d heard that tales of ‘Monster Squirrels walking through the woods’ had been spreading through the woods. His thoughts were interrupted by Feezo talking.
    “Here we are! The Hill!” Feezo looked up the steep slope.

“I think I want to try to get up there.” Feezo poked a claw into the dirt. Then he jumped. He scrabbled for a clawhold, but the dirt was too soft. He slid back to the ground. Mike nodded to Ace, grinning. They put their strong, lithe bodies, under Feezo, and he exclaimed as they launched into the air. Ace and Mike flew through the air with Feezo on their backs. They landed with a thud on top of the hill.

“Oh wow that was fun!” Feezo panted breezily.

After all the squirrels had leaped to the top of the hill, they looked around curiously. Mike led them to a place where he thought they could set camp. It was a hollowing between four trees, and Mike decided that since all of them were too heavy to live in the trees, they should live underground. Now as they explored the little pit, Mike explained to Ace how they could live there.

“We’ll make a little tunnel here and make it lead to a large chamber, then we’ll put rooms around the main chamber. It willl take at most, about a week if we dig for twelve hours a day. But hopefully it will be worth it.”

Ace wasn’t totally satisfied.
    “How about rain? We’ll get drowned in our own home!”
    “Oh,  we’ll just dig a sewer system, and we’ll funnel all the water to one place.”
    “Will it still take seven days?”
    “No, maybe eight days.”
Ace groaned.

4

Mike leaned against the dirt wall. It had been a long week, with a few cave ins, and all the squirrels were very tired, but they had done it! They had dug a tunnel into the chamber, and they had put about twenty rooms around the chamber. In this, they had dug about thirty pounds of dirt out of the ground. So the chamber was very big, so big that even Feezo could fit in there. Feezo had been a great help in the digging process, for he had longer legs than the squirrels and could dig very fast. Now all they had left to dig was the sewer system. Mike checked the time on the wall. It was 4:30. They had gotten the clock from scavenging around the woods, and the squirrels had found a house with a lot of old junk in it. They had brought back a car, a broken watch, which they used as a clock, and even a couch! Mike wondered why humans needed a couch that small. Mike saw Ace approaching.
    “We’re almost done. We’re going to finish in an hour. We’ll finish faster than we expected.”
    “Good.”
    “I’ve been wondering what the man thinks, you know, the one who made us all big and strong like this. I wonder if he’s sending anybody out to catch us.”
    “Probably not. Maybe he found some new squirrels to work on.”
But Mike was very wrong!

    “Yes, I want you to find them immediately.What will the cost be? Oh, a thousand dollars? Hmm...”
Dr. Wood scratched his beard.
    “Yes, I’ll do anything to get them back. They are very valuable squirrels. What? Oh, so it’s a deal, right? Oh, okay thanks. Good bye.”
Dr. Wood placed down the receiver. I’ll get my squirrels back very, very soon! He thought in glee. He went outside to his car and drove back home so he could meet the animal control people the next day.

    “Okay, so you got the plan, right? We’re going to split in all directions possible.”
The captain of the Animal Control center, John Verezston was ordering his men on what to do. then he turned to Dr. Wood.
    “You follow me and my group. Come on, let’s go now.” Mr. Verezston started up the road. His group followed him, and after a moment’s hesitation, so did Dr. Wood.

    Dr. Wood was sweating heavily after two hours of trudging along the side of the road. He took a sip of water from his bottle as he looked around. They were leaning against a fence, taking a break from all the walking. in the distance was an old house. Dr. Wood noticed Mr. Verezston looking at it. Then Mr. Verezston stood up.
    “Let’s take a look at that old house over there. The squirrels might be there, or could’ve been there.” The men walked along the road a bit more, then jumped over the rotten fence outside the house. the wood creaked and groaned as they heaved themselves over. Dr. Wood looked at the mud on his hand from the dirty old fence. He shook his head and followed the rest of the men down the path to the porch steps. When they reached the porch steps Mr. Verezston put a finger to his lips.

“We have to be quiet. If the squirrels are here, then we don’t want them to get away at the sound of our voices.”

The men all nodded and crept up the steps. The boards groaned quietly under the men’s weight. Then the men slid through the doorway, where the door was hanging crookedly. Suddenly, there was a yell from Mr. Verezston, who was in the front of the group.
    “Look out!! There’s rats! Rats everywhere!!” He was cut off as he screamed in pain as a rat sunk its teeth into his leg. Mr. White and the other men rushed toward the doorway. Suddenly, the door fell, blocking the doorway! then the ceiling broke! A couch fell from the floor above with a crash! Now the door was blocked! The men were trapped!

    Mike walked along the fence outside the woods. He was holding his weaponry book in his hand. Now he was looking for metal among the junk lining the fence. He studied the picture. It was the same material cages were made from. Shiny. Mike stopped to rummage through a pile of junk. Nothing. He walked on, sniffing from junk pile to junk pile. After about ten minutes of rummaging through trash, he still found nothing. He leaned against the fence post for a breather. then he let his eyes wander about. Junk pile, tree, hill, sky, rock, road. Nothing shiny like in the picture. After a few minutes, Mike started off again. He saw a large pile of trash. After a few minutes of sheaving through it, he let out a cry of triumph. He had found a large sheet of metal! He tossed it next to him and dove into the trash pile again. this time, he came up with several sheets! He dug through the trash pile. It was filled with metal! After he thought he had enough, he started back toward the woods with the metal in his teeth. It was very uncomfortable there, but it was the only way to hold it. as he walked, he read the book. He was supposed to make something called a sword. It looked very dangerous. he felt the metal in his mouth. it was enough to make about twenty swords! He approached the trees after a couple of minutes. As he walked, metal in his mouth, he saw a nut tree. He put his metal aside and quickly grabbed some nuts. Then he cracked them open and ate them.  They were very good. After he had finished eating, he walked through the woods with his metal. He could see the hill in the distance. Suddenly he heard a voice.

“Need some help there, Mike?”

Feezo was approaching him. His orange coat shone in the sunlight.

“Yes thanks.” Mike dropped a few sheets of metal. Feezo picked them up. They walked, and soon they were at the hill.

“See you at the top!”

Feezo started toward the side of the hill. Since Feezo wasn’t light or strong enough to leap up the hill like the squirrels did, the squirrels had stuck stones into the side of the hill so Feezo could get up easily. Also, the stones were hidden behind some brush so thick that no man could possibly get through it. Mike leaped and landed on the edge of the cliff. He saw the squirrels bustling around with nuts in their mouths. They were storing nuts in one of the rooms so they would never go hungry, for squirrels their size always needed food. Mike went towards the back of the hill, as Feezo ran toward him, panting with the sheets of metal in his mouth. When they reached the back of the hill, Mike laid the sheets on the bottom of his little den. he had dug it, and it was about five feet deep into the hill, and the entrance was about four feet high. Now Feezo laid his sheets on top of Mike’s.

“Okay, I guess I’ll leave you to do your work”

Feezo started back up the hill to join the other squirrels. Then Mike got to work. He had learned to make a fire from his Boy Scout’s book. And he’d already made a mallet from a large stone he had made square by snapping at its edges with his teeth. Then he’d stuck it to a strong stick. Now he started a fire with some glass he found that made things bigger if you looked through it. He shined the sun through it and focused the rays on the paper he had.The paper caught fire, and Mike quickly poked his claw into a corner of the paper and shoved it into his fireplace. His fur got slightly singed, but he was okay. Next he let the fire get hotter and hotter, then when he thought it was ready, he grabbed a small sheet of metal and placed it on top of some sticks that hadn’t lighted. the fire heated the metal, and it grew soft. Next, Mike stuck a stick into the metal, and it stuck. Then, as quick as the wind, he yanked the metal out of the fire, grabbed his hammer and started pounding the metal flat. He pounded it very thin, so it would be sharp. He pounded and pounded until his paws hurt, and finally, the metal grew hard when it cooled. He wiped the sweat off his face and inspected the sword. It was a bit chunky, but it was good enough. He set it aside to let it cool some more, then he reached for another sheet of metal. He again, placed it on top of the fire, pulled it out with a stick, and started pounding. This time, he made the bottom thicker but less wide than the other sword. It was a handle! This sword turned out very good! He set it aside to cool and used the rest of the metal and repeated the process. The sun was setting as he set aside the last sword and looked out at the sunset. He had made thirty one swords today. This was the life! The life that all animals deserved to live!

The men sat outside, rubbing salve on their wounds.  They had managed to break a window and leap out.
    “If the squirrels were watching us now, they would be laughing like maniacs” a man said mournfully.
No one replied.
Then Mr. V. broke the silence.
    “Well, I suppose we must go on finding your squirrels, doctor.”
Dr. Wood nodded and they all stood up.
    “We’ll head the way we were going.” Mr. V started walking.
Dr. Wood and the rest started walking also, wincing as their wounds from the rats stretched. After another hour of walking, the men saw some trees up ahead.
    “I don’t believe we were so stupid to think that squirrels would go to a place without trees.” a man remarked.
    “These squirrels are not like normal squirrels, you got to remember that, Ganmin” Mr. V. replied severely.
Ganmin just grunted. By this time they had reached the trees.
    “What a junky place!” Ganmin stepped over a hunk of junk.
The ground along the fence was swarming with trash. The men stepped over piles of trash as they headed toward the woods. By now, the sun was already setting. The men burst into a clearing.
    “We’ll set camp here. Get out the sleeping bags” Mr. V. commanded. One of the men produced a couple of brown sleeping bags. He tossed them at the rest of the men and Dr. White. In no time, the men had lit a fire, eaten, and laid down inside their skinny sleeping bags. As Dr. White got into his sleeping bag, there was a ripping sound. Half of the sleeping bag had ripped. Ganmin let out a snort and started chuckling. Dr. White turned red and turned over to wait for sleep.

    “Yes, just outside the wood!”
    “We must hide our tracks!”
    “Yes, we must cover the pit with some branches.”
    “Will we need any weapons?”
    “No, no, we’ll just hide somewhere behind The Hill.”
    “Okay. I’ll go tell the guys to cover the pit.”
    “Yes. Then when we’re done, we will abandon The Hill.”
    “Forever?”
    “No, just until they leave. Now go now.”
    “Okay, Ace.” Mike rushed toward camp. Feezo had just told Ace that some men were sleeping, just outside the wood! Although the two of them said nothing, they both knew it was the man looking for them. Now Mike leaped up the hill, clearing the top by ten feet out of his fear. At the top, the squirrels were milling around. He yowled into the air.

“We must excavate! There are men coming through our woods! We must cover the pit!”

The squirrels stared at him ,and  a few seconds later, they were all shoving branches over the pit. Mike rushed to his little burrow dug at the back of the hill. he shoved grass and leaves into it. Then he went back up the hill to help the others cover the pit. But when he got there, they were already done covering the pit. So he commanded,
    “Everybody follow me!”
Saying that, he started off towards the back of the hill with all the squirrels and Feezo following him. They passed his hidden den and stepped down the hill. Then they reached a cliff. Mike stopped and studied it. On the far side there was a hill, about forty feet away. Mike knew the squirrels could make it. For Feezo, well, he could walk.
    “Okay guys, we’ll jump over to that hill over there. Feezo can follow us on the ground.”
Feezo nodded, and with that, Mike took a tremendous leap to the other hill. he peered down and saw Feezo running between the two hills. Soon, all the squirrels were over and Feezo was next to the hill, waiting for them. Then Mike saw some trees he could jump through. He looked farther. There was a river there, they could hide somewehre there or they could hid somewhere on thefar side of the woods. Mike decided they would hide at the far side of the wood.
    “Okay guys, we’re going to skyjump from every solid object possible, all the way to the end of these woods. Feezo, we’ll meet you there.”
Feezo nodded and sprinted away. Now Mike jumped to he first tree, and quick as a flash, he was in the second tree. The squirrels all repeated this for about an hour, until finally, they could see the trees stop in the distance. The squirrels jumped to the ground and raced outside the woods. There was Feezo, licking his paw.
    “Hi guys. You took long to get here.”
Mike was confused.
    “How long have you been here?”
    “About ten minutes. I took a straight path through the trees.”
    “Oh, okay.”
Mike surveyed their location. There was a big open field of grass. Mike wondered how Ace was doing. He had stayed to watch the men, and he’d promised to meet Mike if the men left. Suddenly Mike heard a sound. He turned to look. Out of the trees across the field, where Mike hadn’t noticed, a line of animals were appearing. They weren’t close enough for Mike to know what they were though. He squinted at them as they marched across the field. Suddenly he heard a gasp from Feezo.
    “They’re wolves!”

    Ace creeped along the branch, looking closely at the men He was sure, even though the man wasn’t wearing a white coat, he was sure this was the man! They were blundering through the edge of the woods. So far, they weren’t heading the right way. They were staying about two hundred yards away from the road. Ace stepped over a twig carefully. The men suddenly turned right. They were heading towards The Hill! Ace pressed against the trunk as the men passed just about seven feet in front of him! He sighed with relief. Thank god I have a brown coat He thought. He hurried to catch up to the men, who were starting to grow smaller in the distance. He decided to get off the trees. He leaped to the ground and raced after the disappearing men. Suddenly one of them stopped. He turned around and clutched the web on the pole he had. The his eyes slowly set on Ace. He’d been spotted! Ace dashed toward the yelling men, hoping to trick them. Just as he was a few feet away from the men, he took a mighty leap over the man’s head. The man shouted and lunged with the net, but Ace was already in a tree, high over the man’s head.Ace started to move slowly on top of the weak branches at the top of the trees.    
   
    “Ganmin, you fool! You let him get away!” Mr. Verezston screamed in Ganmins face. then he turned to another man named Herton. “You, go tell the doctor we might have spotted one about 4 feet long, and it’s head was about three and a half feet above the ground. Tell him it jumped over this fools head.” He swung his gaze pointedly to Ganmin.

“Yes sir,” Herton walked off towards the edge of the woods, where Dr. Wood was waiting. After Herton disappeared into the trees, Mr. Verezston stormed through the trees. The men followed him. A four feet long squirrel also followed, chuckling to himself.

“Halt!”

The wolves stopped inches from the squirrels. The leader looked Mike down.
    “I suppose you are these squirrels’s leader?”
    “Yes.”
    “What are you doing here?”
    “Some men in the woods want to catch us, so we came here to hide.”
    “How long will you hide here?”
    “Just as long as the men stay in the woods, we stay here.”
The wolf narrowed his eyes.
    “Very well. We must fight you. Attack!”
The wolves surged forward. Mike looked around wildly. They were clearly outnumbered! But, they were stronger. and lighter. That was their advantage. Mike narrowed his eyes and leaped towards a wolf attacking Victor. He hit the wolf square on it’s flank. It grunted and fell off Victor. At once, Victor leaped up and bit hard on the wolf’s back leg. Mike clamped his jaws on it’s other leg. Then, he nodded to Victor. They both jumped at once, and when they came down, they slammed the wolf down before them. There was a crack, then the wolf lay still on the ground. Mike leaped on another wolf. It grunted, staggered, but managed to fling him off. As soon as his back legs touched the ground, he let out a tremendous leap at the wolf, so strong that the force would break a tree. The wolf was caught by surprise as Mike slammed into it. It died immediately, and Mike could hear it’s broken bones clacking together as it fell to the ground. Suddenly, Mike was knocked flat. The leader of the wolves had pinned him.

“Prepare to die, you weakling.” The wolf’s jaws slammed down, but Mike was too quick. He slipped out from under the wolf, and the wolf’s jaws hit the ground. A tooth fell out. The wolf roared with rage and lunged at Mike, blood spurting from its mouth. Mike easily sidestepped and when the wolf landed, he whacked into it full force. But suddenly, he felt an excruciating pain in his tail. Blood roared in his ears as the pain increased. The wolf had got him! He clawed at the wolfs back legs, but it dodged, and his claws flailed in the air. Suddenly he was jerked into the air. Thn he was slammed down. He lay there, dazed as the wolf let go of his tail and started clawing his fur out. Suddenly, the wolf was rolled off him. Justin and Kevin had arrived! Mike tried to get up and help them, but he was too dizzy. He lay on the ground in pain, as everything went blurry, then disappeared.

Good. They were heading the wrong way again. Ace watched the men trudge through the brush. They were following the road again, but they didn’t know that. Now they were deep in the woods, going down a small slope.When they disappeared, Ace raced after them. They were starting to talk calmly now, even though Mr. Verezston’s face was still pink. For some time, they walked through the woods in silence. Soon, the trees thinned out, then stopped. The men also stopped. They talked a little, then they turned right, right towards the battle with the wolves!

A figure stood over him.

“You okay Mike?”

Justin was standing over him with Kevin right behind him. As Mike’s eyes cleared, he started to feel better. He stood up.
    “Yes thanks. So what happened?” He looked around the bloody patch of grass they were standing on.
    “They killed too little, we killed too much. Surrendered, them.”
Mike was surprised.
    “Gosh, I was surprised they surrendered!” a bloody Feezo had walked up. “Wolves usually never give up.”

“Good thing they did this time.” Kevin remarked.

Mike looked at the setting sun.
    “Come on guys, night is coming. let’s find someplace to sleep.”
After a bit of searching, the squirrels decided the best place to sleep would be the trees. So they all climbed into their own tree, and waited for sleep.

    “Sorry, sir. We just can’t do it.” Mr. Verezston handed the money to Dr. Wood.
    “I know we saw one, but that doesn’t mean they all live there. They could have split up...” Mr. Verezston’s voice trailed away, and he withered at Dr. Wood’s glare. As Dr. Wood said nothing, Mr. Verezston backed toward the door.
    “Well... Um... Good bye, sir...”
Dr. Wood watched him go with eyes of stone. Smart little critter think they’ve won, huh? Well guess what? It’s not over!

5

Ace grinned as he ran through the cool morning breeze toward the back of The Hill. The men had left! Ace screeched to a stop when he saw the pit. He ripped off all the brush covering it, gleefully. Then he went on, slowing down slightly as he went down the back of the hill. But again, he screeched to a halt. He uncovered Mike’s den, then went on. He decided to have a run on the ground. A little exercise would warm him. He ran through the woods, dodging the trees. after some time, the trees started to thin out. He was near the edge of the woods! As he neared the edge, he slowed down. He could surprise them!. He leaped up a high tree and looked around. Stream, rock, tree, stick... Wait! What was that in the tree? Beige fur! Ace cackled mentally as he hopped through trees with sleeping squirrels in them towards Mike’s tree. With a last leap, he arrived at Mike’s tree. Mike was sleeping on a branch with his paws hanging over the sides of the branch. Ace ran onto the branch, past mike, and climbed to the very edge. He started bouncing on it. Suddenly there was a crack! The branch broke, but Ace had already jumped safely away. He watched Mike hit the ground, then wake up abruptly and yell in anger. Ace burst into laughter, but suddenly, he was pinned.
    “You little...” Mike pummeled Ace.
Ace just laughed harder.
Soon all the squirrels woke up, and Mike rolled off Ace.
    “So did they leave?”
Ace, who still had tears in his eyes suddenly turned solemn.
    “They died.”
Mike started pummeling the laughing Ace again, until he cried for mercy.
    “Yes, yes, they left! Ooh! Get off me you lump of junk! OWW! Oh FINE! Hey Mike I’m serious! Get off me!”
Mike jumped off Ace, who lay there sorely.
    “Serves you right for cracking me out of that tree.”
Mike walked away.
    “Let’s get going back to camp”
Ace got up and hobbled after him, the rest of the squirrels following. On the way back, Ace told Feezo and a few other squirrels what’d happened. Soon, they were back on the hill, safe and sound.

    Wham! Wham! Mike leaned backed and scratched. He picked up his hammer again and gave it a final whack. He ran his paw against the blade. It certainly was very sharp. It was ready for a handle. Mike got a sheet of metal and stuck it into the fire. It sizzled, and when it was soft, Mike flipped it out of the fire and quickly rolled it into a tube. Next, he stuck the tube’s end directly into the fire, and it melted. Before the hot metal could drip, Mike had stuck it onto the blade. Then he sat back and admired his axe. It was shiny, fully made of metal. Very good for chopping wood. He lay down on the hill, enjoying the breeze, and waiting for the metal to cool, so he could test it. As he waited, he looked out into the distance. The hill overlooked the trees, so he could almost see the place where they had fought the wolves. Suddenly he heard a sound. He whipped his head around just in time to see a furry tail dissapear into the bushes. He lunged after the furry tail. It was grayish, the normal color of a squirrel, and it was also very small. He ran the way it went, and finally, they burst out of the bushes. They were on the ground! Mike saw the squirrel ahead. He ran faster, and with a final leap, he wrestled the squirrel to the ground. It squealed loudly, so Mike let go. It sat there, looking at him frighteningly. It’s eyes were so wide open that Mike could see the whites of his eyes, and little red veins bobbing out of the eyes. Finally, Mike spoke.

“Were you watching me?”

The squirrel’s eyes bulged a little more.

“Y-y-y-y...yes...”

“How did you get on the hill?”

“I climbed up the side.”

Mike noticed the squirrels claws. They were unusually long.

“What is your name?”

Starting to see that Mike wasn’t angry, the squirrels eyes went back in, and its fur lay flat.

“My name is Luther.”

Mike looked Luther down. He was strong for a normal squirrel, and he was just a bit younger than Mike himself.
Suddenly, with a burst of courage, the squirrel blurted out.
    “What were you doing with that shiny stuff? Why were you whacking it?”
Mike decided to show this squirrel what he could make.

”Follow me.”

Mike headed towards Feezo’s steps. Luther followed him, leaping each step while mike simply walked up the stones. Soon they were on the hill. Squirrels peered at Luther curiously. Mike explained to them.
    “This is someone who wants to see me blacksmithing.”
They nodded, but still stared at Luther as he and Mike headed to the back of the hill. When the two squirrels reached Mike’s little shop, Mike picked up the axe that was lying on the dirt.
    “Let’s go test this thing. It’s called an axe.”
They approached a tree. It was skinny. Mike decided he could make something from its wood. He swung as strong as he could...and the trunk fell with a crack! Straight towards Luther! Mike leaped just in time to roll Luther away from the falling trunk. But not fast enough to stop the trunk from falling on himself! There was a crack, and everything went black, but before it did, he noticed something very strange. Luther had a funny smile on his face...

    Martin, Christopher, Kevin, Justin and Ace faced Luther.

“Spy!” Kevin bared his teeth at Luther.

“I think we should teach this squirrel a lesson. One he’ll never forget.” Ace slapped his massive tail on the ground. It thumped loudly. The five squirrels stepped slowly toward Luther. Then, at once, they leaped! Kevin picked him up and tossed him to Ace. Luther was thrown in circles. Finally, Martin gave a last fling, flinging Luther deep into the woods. Luther screamed, flying. When he landed on top of a bush, he checked all his bones. That was a bit too risky, he thought. But he hadn’t managed to run away in time. But that was okay. He was alive and well. He started towards the edge of the woods, thinking on how well he had, hopefully, killed Mike. When he was first looking through the brush at Mike hammering away, he was pondering on how he should do it. After that, it went very well when he’d pretended to be interested in that weird shiny thing he was pounding. Actually, he was interested in it, but he had to do what he had to do. He’d better be getting to boss now. He exited the woods and ran across the field to the next wood. as soon as he set paw into the trees, a voice sounded.

“Is that you, Luther?”

Luther looked around. Oh there he was! Junger was behind a tree, waiting for him.
    “Yes, it’s me.”
    “Hey come on, I’ll take you to Khashil. By the way, did you do it?”
    “Hopefully I did. He broke both of his back legs, I think. I was hoping his spin would break, but hey, legs are good enough. Those squirrels jump a lot.”
    “I guess those squirrels without legs would be like us wolves without bodies, huh?”
    “Maybe. Here we are!”
Junger and Luther stepped into the wolves camp. Luther looked for Khashil. He saw him next to his den.
    “Well thanks, Junger, I’ll go report to Khashil.”
Junger nodded and stepped back. Luther headed towards Khashil.
    “Hello Khashil, I’m here to report to you on the monster squirrels.”
    “Yes. How did it go?”
    “I broke their leader’s back legs. I think he won’t live.”
    “Very good. Very, very good. You will get your reward. Follow Hunlum.”
A stout wolf had walked up. He nodded to Luther, and Luther followed him.
    “I’m to give you a tree as your reward. and you will also be a high rank now that you’ve done something to one of Khashil’s enemies.”
Luther puffed in pride. They walked on. Finally, Hunlum stopped.
    “There you go, Luther. Your own tree. We hollowed it out for you and everything. And it also has nuts and there’s apples in the next tree.”
Luther gazed up at the tree. It was very tall. He saw a little hollow just the right height, and nuts at the top.
    “Nice. Thanks Hunlum.”
Hunmlum nodded and walked away. Luther clawed his way up the tree. The bark felt plump under his claws. He bit out a piece of bark. Nice and soft. He spat it out. He then climbed up to the hollow. Right now, it was shielded against the wind, and sun was streaming into the hollow from a hole at the back of it. It was perfect! I think I’ll try a few of those nuts He leaped up the tree and with one swipe, he cut a nut out of the tree. He chewed it. Ooh, it was good!

    “Building shelter, finding food, making a fire...”
Martin continued down the table of contents.
“...making a signal, glossary”
“Nothing about getting hurt. Or medicine.”
Martin sighed. Ace was quiet for a while. Then he spoke.
    “I think we should go get a book about meds. Maybe at that house we met the rats.”
The other four squirrels eyes bulged slightly, but they asked.
    “When shall we go?”
    “Possibly now.”
    “Anything to save Mike.”
    “Okay go now. Take some of mike’s swords and a sheath and a belt. Try to be back by tomorrow.”
The four squirrels nodded and hurried towards Mike’s shop for the swords. They got them, and stuck them into the sheaves, then wrapped the belts around their waists.

“Ready?” Justin asked.

“Sure.”

The four squirrels rushed through the woods quickly. They had to get there fast if they were to get back by tomorrow!
“Only a few hours til sunset!”
The squirrels ran faster at Kevin’s remark. In a few minutes, they were racing along the road to the Rat House.

6

    The four squirrels crept toward the house, swords unsheathed. It was about an hour til sunset. They figured they could kill the rats and get any book they needed before night arrived. They kicked the door aside. It flipped over the couch. The squirrels shrugged. Each of them took a corner of the couch. Then they flung it outside. Then Christopher and Justin sheathed their swords and climbed up the bookcase. Martin and Kevin kept a lookout for rats. Christopher and justin shuffled through the books. Nothing on the first shelf. They dropped down to the second shelf. Nothing, nothing. They dropped to a third shelf. Suddenly, a dark, massive wave flowed toward them, but they were unaware. They were rats! Martin and Kevin leaped at the squirrels, swinging their swords. Martin chopped off a rat’s nose, then Kevin sliced a rat’s leg. Suddenly they heard a yell.
    “I got it!” Justin held up a book. Suddenly, a rat lunged at him! He dodged neatly, wrestled it to the ground, then ran out the doorway with the book in his paw.  Kevin did a final slash, then he ran to the doorway with the other two squirrels following him. The rats shrieked after them, but the squirrels were already traveling up the road into the night.

Justin tried to read the book in the moonlight as they went up the road. All he could make out were a few words that he felt had nothing to do with broken legs. He shut the book and started to run to warm himself up. The other squirrels started running too. Their legs pounded the turf. They continued running for about an hour until they could see the wood up ahead. But suddenly, there was a low growl, then seven large figures leaped up at them! The squirrels whirled and slashed blindly at their attackers. They were wolves! As Justin slashed at a wolf’s snout, at the corner of his eye he saw a flash of familiar fur. It was Luther! He was watching the fight, grinning. Justin flung the wolf away with a burst of strength. It flew into the trees. Then before it landed, Justin was on Luther. Luther was taken by surprise. Justin clamped his teeth into Luther’s foreleg. He screamed as there was a crunching sound. Hearing this, all the wolves stopped fighting and flew to Luther’s aid. Justin was suddenly pounded from the back. He whirled around, Luther’s leg still in his jaws. He swung Luther at a wolf with such force the wolf fell down. Luther again screamed. Then Luther and Justin were a blur as Justin flew at the six remaining wolves, knocking them all out. Luther screamed with every hit. His voice also got weaker.
    “No! No!” Luthers eyes were glazed. Justin dropped him on the ground.
    “I’m.m...m...So...rr.yy” Luther’s face was taut with pain.
    “It’s too late for that, you creep. What were you thinking, trying to kill your own kind? You sided with wolves. You think that’s forgivable? It’s NOT!” With that, Justin smashed Luther. Bones cracked.
    “Nooooooo!!” Luther’s scream echoed into the night as he lay on the bloodstained turf, dead. Without a word, the squirrels walked over Luther, hearing the satisfying crunch of his bones as they stepped on him.  They headed into the woods. By now, dawn was breaking. They had been up the whole night. But they were not tired at all. They were all thinking the same thing; was Mike still alive. Soon they reached The Hill and they leaped up, single file. Justin leaped clumsily with the book, but he managed. hey headed toward the pit. Outside was Storm standing guard.
    “Hello. Did you get the book?”
Justin nodded and showed him the book.
    “Is Mike still  alive?”
    “Yes, yes he is.”
The four went into the tunnel into the main chamber.
There was Mike.
Ace was next to him. He looked at the book in Justin’s jaws.
    “I knew you would get it in time! Give it to me, Justin!”
Justin gave the book to Ace, and Ace read it. Soon, he got to work on Mike’s leg.

7

“Okay.”

Mike leaned against his crutches and swung forward.
    “Strong enough. Okay, we’ll put you on for one more day, then we can take off your cast.”

“Okay, Doctor Ace.” Mike grinned.

    “Hey, I suddenly feel like breaking someone’s leg again!”
Mike sped away with his crutches.

I saw one there, maybe I’ll see more. I’m going to search better then those men! Dr. Wood loaded his truck and put the cages in it. Then he packed a bag, and got a nice STRONG sleeping bag with STRONG stitches. He also got a canteen and a few nets. When he was done loading up, He started the truck. Then he put-putted up the road, back to the woods. He sipped some coffee he brought. Then, suddenly, he bounced out of a rut in the road. Coffee spilled all over him and burned him. Then the coffee all tipped into his throat. His throat burned and he started coughing. Snot and coffee came out of his nose. He cursed, and he drove on with his now brown-spotted tan shirt. After a few minutes, he saw the woods in the distance. He grinned evilly and rubbed his hands together, but then the truck turned and headed toward a ditch! He quickly stopped rubbing his hands together and grabbed the steering wheel. He rolled back onto the road. Scientists weren’t made for driving He thought. Finally, he parked, but he forgot to put the brake, so the truck started rolling. It bashed through a fence, and Dr. Wood quickly started the truck again and applied the brake. Then he grabbed a net and crept into the woods. He pushed away a tree branch with his net, expertly, so he thought. Turned out it wasn’t so expert, because he spent the next ten minutes untangling the net from the branches. Finally it came loose and Dr. Wood went on, cursing an endless stream of bad words. He walked for a few minutes, until he saw a hill up ahead. He stopped and wiped sweat off his brow. He walked through a thick patch of bushes. Suddenly he stopped and listened. There was a sound! He listened again. Suddenly an orange shape leaped out from the bushes, yowling. He blocked it with his net just in time, but then the net broke. He cursed and threw it aside. Bad mistake. Now he had nothing to defend himself from this fox but his hands. The fox snapped at his legs. A chunk of flesh fell to the ground. Suddeny Dr. Wood got very angry. Very very angry. He remembered all the money he spent to catch those squirrels. He remembered how much he spent to inject those squirrels. He remembered how the squirrels ran away. He remembered his failed attempt to catch them. He remembered everything. How it had all come to this mess. He was very angry. He had wasted more then ten thousand dollars trying to catch these stupid creatures. and now! He punched the fox with a blow that would have knocked an elephant over. Then he wrestled it to the ground, screamign and cursing for all he was worth. He grabbed it’s leg and bent it three hundred sixty degrees. The fox screamed and it became weaker. He finally got hold of the foxes head and smashed it to the ground. He heard it crack, but he still wasn’t satisfied. His eyes blazed red as he leaped onto the fox, and jumped on it, crushing its ribs. Fianlly, he stood and looked down at the fox. He had always been a scientist, protecting and studying nature, respecting it. But now his anger had drove him to the end. He ran towards the hill with amazing speed, then he managed to claw his way up the dirt to the top of the hill. His fingers were blistered, his face was dirty, his shirt was muddy, but his eyes blazed, determined now not to catch those squirrels, but to kill them. Kill them. He now had no respect for nature. He was angry. it made him dangerous. Dangerous-er then any animal alive. He roared and ripped off his shirt. He pounded his chest. Then he ate a mouthful of dirt. I am Dr. Wood no longer. I am, I AM WOODMAN!

    “And I have a feeling he’s changed. I think he wants us killed.” Ace’s eyes were wide at what he had seen outside the pit, It had been the man who had injected them, only he looked angrier, and he seemed to be made of wood, and he also seemed bigger, and stronger. The mouthful of dirt must have had tree seeds in it, and his anger combined with that must have made him the monster he became. Ace shuddered as he remembered the scene outside the pit. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted. He heard the sound of dirt breaking. The man had found them.
    “Mike?”
Mike glanced at him.
    “What?”
Ace looked around nervously.
    “Where’s Feezo?”
Mike’s shock showed.
    “You mean to say, he- he...”
Mike swallowed as the ground shook under their paws.
    “We must fight. We must kill him. For Feezo’s sake.”
Hearing that, the other squirrels came up and stood behind Mike and Ace. Then they braced themselves to fight the monster breaking the tunnels up ahead. Suddenly, light flowed into the chamber! Woodman had broke a chunk of dirt off the ceiling. When he saw them, he laughed.   

“I found you, you might as well come out now to diee!!”

He cackled as he ripped out another chunk of dirt. Mike couldn’t bear to watch all their hard digging being destroyed. He screamed through the chamber,
    “SQUIRRELS, ATTACK!”
The squirrels all lunged out through the hole in the ceiling. Woodman didn’t seem surprised. He just swung a heavy wood hand at the squirrels and whacked them off him. Mike leaped. He sunk his teeth into Woodman’s arm. But it was no use. He was batted away by Woodman’s hand, leaving tooth marks on his arm. Mike thought. if they couln’t draw any blood from him, how could they defeat him? Mike looked at Woodman carefully. Wood breaks doesn’t it? So they could just put some sharp rocks at the bottom of the side of the hill, then somehow push Woodman onto them! Mike’s thoughts were inturrupted as he dodge to let a squirrel fly past him.
    “To me, squirrels!”
The squirrels ran to him, but two or three remained attacking Woodman. Mike started.
    “Wood breaks, as we all know, so we could try to break him. All we need to do is put some rocks at the bottom of the hill, then somehow push Woodman onto them.”
Squirrels murmured agreement to his plan. They split up into two groups. One group for hauling rocks to the bottom of the hill, and another group for herding Woodman toward them. Mike hurried and leaped to the bottom of the hill, his group following him. They all split into different directions, and then they came back and placed rocks at the bottom of the hill. Soon, the rock pile was almost three feet high. The squirrels stopped and jumped back to the top of the hill. Woodman was just a few yards away from the edge! The squirrels jumped back down and started putting more and more rocks so he would really get hurt. Suddenly a squirrel landed beside Mike with a thump. It was Ace! He looked badly hurt. Mike looked down at him.
    “Ace! Ace! Are you all right?”
Ace just moaned. Mike checked him over. He had broken most of his ribs. Mike wasn’t sure if he would live or not. Mike grew angry and he leaped up the hill. Then he lunged at Woodman and wrestled him to the ground. They started rolling toward the edge of the hill. Mike pushed away from Woodman in fury and lunged at him again. Woodman was knocked over flat. The squirrels started pushing Woodman headfirst off the hill. For a second, Mike saw fear in his eyes, and the wood looked more like skin for a second. But then his eyes glowed evil red again and he struggled to stop the squirrels, but they were ut of range from his hands. Suddenly his head lolled over the edge of the cliff. All the squirrels cheered and gave one last push. They all watched him fall. Mike watched grimly as he fell through the air. Then, there was the sound of splintering wood. Woodman had been defeated.

Epilogue

Mike looked outside into the morning sunshine. They had defeated Woodman, but they had lost Ace and Feezo in the process. They had found Feezo’s body on the ground near his guard post. They had buried him, and Ace too, once the battle was over. After Woodman had died, Mike had jumped down the hill to check on Ace, but he’d already been lying dead. A battle one must be a soldier or two lost, and Mike hoped there wouldn’t be any more battles to come. The courage of Ace, the loyalty of Feezo could never be replaced, but the other squirrels were loyal, and Mike believed they would make it through the years to come.