Skipper and Eve continued walking through New York. It was almost sundown again, and snow was still drifting gently from the dark cloudy sky. They hadn’t gotten far within the last few hours. It was difficult to walk through such harsh weather. To try to keep as warm as possible, Skipper and Eve were walking with their flippers around each other, pulling each other close.

    “Hey Eve…”

    “Yeah Skipper?”

    “I think I found a way we can get out of this cold without stopping.”

    “Yeah?” Skipper stopped and pointed. “See that garbage truck over there?” Eve glanced in the direction he was pointing. “There’s a dump upstate. We could sneak on and hitch a ride.”

    “Sounds like a good idea to me. How are we gonna sneak on unnoticed?”

    “Just follow my lead.” Skipper took her par the flipper and they crossed the street. Once they arrived at the truck, Skipper led her around to the back, and opened the compactor, causing trash to fall out onto the street. They then raced the passenger side, and while the driver was distracted, they snuck in and hid behind the seats. There was just enough room for the both of them, so they had to sit close to stay hidden.

    It was certainly a lot warmer in here. The two of them sighed in relief as warm air came through the vents onto their freezing cold bodies. They got comfortable just as the driver got back behind the wheel shutting the door behind him. That’s when Skipper realized that he’d rather be traipsing the thick snow outside than to be here.

    The driver picked up his CB and spoke into it. “Everything’s fine. I don’t know how the back got open like that though.”

    “That’s great X. Just keep heading upstate.”

    Skipper whispered as softly as he could into Eve’s ear. “Listen…you can’t make a sound, okay?” Eve, confused at the panicky tone in his voice, just nodded slightly. Skipper put his flipper around her and brought her closer to him. The plus they could hide behind the chair the better. Of all the garbage trucks in New York…he had the luck in a million to pick the one Officer X drove…well…now Sanitation Engineer X…as it were.

    They all rode in silence. X occasionally muttering something under his breath. The three heure ride upstate seemed to take three years. Eve would shift in her position a couple of times, trying to be quiet. Now they were in some traffic. Every seconde that it took to get upstate, the plus nervous Skipper became. He was surprised that X’s freakish sense of smell hadn’t picked them up yet. He assumed it was the cold doing something to his sinuses. At least that’s what he thought.

    Suddenly X started to feel as if he wasn’t alone. He looked around suspiciously. Skipper slightly shifted with an uneasy feeling. He was afraid of what X might be thinking. Suddenly X pulled over at his suivant stop. He got out and toi could hear the back of the truck opening and the vibration of the compactor through your bones.

    Skipper waited for X to get in the driver side, but he instead opened the passenger side door. Skipper’s grip tightening around Eve, his breathing halted. Eve began wondering why Skipper’s cœur, coeur was pounding so hard. He could hear X moving things around. par his guess, he was looking for him. His cœur, coeur pounded so hard he was afraid it was about to explode. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Suddenly the rustling noises stopped, after a few secondes of silence, Skipper relaxed a little.

    It all happened in seconds. The back of the siège shot forward, causing Skipper and Eve to nearly jump out of their feathers. Hands grasped tightly at their sides with excessive force. The suivant thing they knew, they were staring at X’s twisted face. “Well, well, well. What do toi have here? If it isn’t those penguins that caused me to-” He looked plus closely at Eve, then Skipper- “Well I know I recognize you, but not this one. Find yourself a girlfriend penguin?” Skipper’s face twisted into annoyance as X laughed and shoved them into an empty garbage bag.

    “Skipper! Do toi know this guy?!” Eve asked as they landed on haut, retour au début of each other.

    “Yeah…he’s a psychotic ex-animal control officer. My team and I sorta got him fired…several times…” Skipper answered as he struggled to get off of her. The bag was really crammed. Finally the bag was set down, and the two of them were able to kind of relax.

    “Skipper, we’ve got to get out of here.”

    “It’s no use fighting this guy. We’ll think of something whenever we get to wherever he’s taking us.”

    “Where do toi think he’s taking us then?”

    “I don’t know…”

    After about another heure of driving, the bag was lifted again. They were awkwardly pressed against each other, making them both feel uncomfortable. The sound of a door opening and closing was heard, along with X muttering another one of his lame puns. “Time to take out the trash.”

    They were set down on a hard surface. “I have a couple of…strays for you.”

    Another voice answered. “And toi put them in a…garbage bag?”

    “Only thing I had.”

    “Alright. Let’s see what we got.”

    Suddenly they were tipped upside down, falling out of the bag, landing on haut, retour au début of each other on a counter. Eve clung to Skipper, afraid of being separated from him. The other voice they heard, AKA the man behind the counter, stared at them in disbelief. “Penguins? toi found penguins wandering around New York? Wait a minute…I know you! You’re that crazy manchot, pingouin guy on the news!-” He laughed and turned to the room behind him- “Hey Steve! Come here! It’s the manchot, pingouin guy! He brought us some penguins!” Another man came out and they started laughing.

    “Okay, ha-ha. Now what are toi gonna do about them?”

    “We’ll deal with them accordingly. If toi remember to make it worth our while…” Steve a dit rubbing his fingers together. What is this place? X rolled his eyes and placed a small wad of cash on the counter, which the other two men accepted. X grimaced at the penguins, then left.

    “I’ll take ‘em into the back room and give ‘em their shots.” Steve said. Skipper gulped. Shot?

    They were carried into another room and set down on the table. Steve went over to the other counter to prepare the needle. Eve leaned into Skipper’s ear. “Okay, he’ll give us the shot, then he’s gotta get cages for us. We’ll take the opportunity he’s out of the room to make a break for it.” She whispered. Skipper watched as Steve walked back over with two needles in hand. The light danced off the needle into Skipper eyes. His cœur, coeur pounded, eyes locked on the instrument of pain. Eve took notice of the fear in his eyes. “Are toi okay Skipper?” Eve whispered. Skipper slightly nodded, trying to calm down.

    Come on…just one shot…just get through one shot then I’m accueil free… Skipper thought.

    Steve took Eve first, who cringed upon being injected. Steve started coming toward Skipper, who stepped back. “Come here little guy. This won’t hurt a bit.”

    “Skipper! What are toi doing?! Just take the shot!” Eve whispered in frustration. Skipper pushed the doctor’s hand out of the way. “Just go now Eve!” He and Eve jumped off the table, tableau and slid to the door, but were stopped when the door was slammed in their faces and a burlap sack placed over them. After much blind struggling, they were thrown into a cage.

    “Hey Joe! Come here!” ‘Joe’ walked into the room. “What now Steve?”

    “Maybe that manchot, pingouin guy might be on to something. That manchot, pingouin just tried to make a break for it! toi should’ve seen it! He flipped right off the counter like a ninja!”

    “What are toi on about Steve?”

    “Come on! I’ll montrer toi on the security footage!” The two of them left, leaving Skipper and Eve alone in the cage.

    “What is wrong with you?! toi ruined everything!”

    “I thought we could make it!”

    “No Skipper! toi knew we wouldn’t be able to make that! Why couldn’t toi have just waited till he left!? Who knows what they’ll do to us now!?”

    “I have a fear of needles okay! And because of that who knows how long it will be before I can save my men…or your sister… I’m sorry Eve.” Eve was shocked; she would never have guessed someone so Rebelle would have such a small fear.

    “You have a fear? Of needles?”

    “Yeah. Don’t rub it in okay.” Skipper turned his back on Eve and held on to the bars, his head resting against them as well.

    Eve smiled sympathetically and put her flipper on his shoulder. “You know…There’s nothing wrong with being afraid.”

    “There is if it means another minute not knowing if my team is safe.” Eve pulled on his arm, forcing skipper to look her in the eye.

    “Everybody is afraid of something. Fear can make us do things we wish we could control. But we can’t. It’s not our fault. It’s how we handle the situation later that matters.” She lifted Skipper’s chin back up when he looked away. “We’re going to get out of this.” Just then Joe and Steve came back in.

    “I can’t believe that! This could get us some big bucks!” Joe said, he picked up the cage. “Tomorrow we’ll take the footage and these little guys to the press! Ay Steve?”

    “Can’t wait! Come on; let’s put them in a cell.”

    They then were placed in a cell, at which time the neighboring dogs, cats, mice, etc. began to yowl at them. To them, Skipper an Eve were just breakfast waiting to happen. The two of them went to the back of the cell and sat down. “What are we gonna do Skipper?” Eve asked.

    “I don’t know…” Eve hesitated before asking. “You’re thinking about your team aren’t you?” Skipper nodded.

    “What are they like? Your team?”

    Skipper sighed. “Well…Kowalski…he’s the nerd.-” Eve chuckled.- “He always gives long winded explanations with unpronounceable words that no one understands but him.-” Skipper almost smiled.- “Rico…well let’s just say toi think the rest of us are psychotic. That guy gives a whole new meaning to the word. But nevertheless, he still has a kind heart. Speaking of kind hearts…Private probably has the kindest cœur, coeur toi can find. He’s the youngest. Now Private…yeah Kowalski and Rico are like brothers to me…but it’s different with Private. He’s plus like the son I never had. I remember when he was just a hatchling. I took him from his dying mother’s arms and I knew from that moment…that he was going to become an important part in my life.” Skipper almost began crying. Eve looked into his hurting eyes.

    “Wow…you know, you…didn’t have to tell me all of that if toi didn’t want to.” Skipper kept his gaze fixed in front of him. “I know.” Eve looked at the tears he was holding back. “You know Skipper, crying doesn’t mean you’re weak. It just means you’ve been strong for too long.” That being said, the embraced. Skipper allowed tears to fall down his cheeks as he silently wept over her shoulder. Eve gently caressed his back. “We’ll save them Skipper. I promise."