Chapter 11 by Zachious

Chapter 11

It was a month later in the city of Yiggow and all continued on with the regular hustle and bustle. Berkeley was working at the factory, he and his other nicer fox friend Kevin were working on packing meat into boxes when the fox started to chit-chat.

"So how's it going at school Berkeley?"

The lizard let out a huge sigh, "It could be going better I suppose?"

Kevin looked concerned. "What grades aren't that good?"

Berkeley's tail started to twitch, he starting to breath deep. "Well...it's...not exactly...my grades..."

The fox winked a Berkeley with a smile. "Come on man, I'm your friend here you don't need to think that I'm your enemy."

"Yeah," chuckled the lizard who finished packing a meat box. "It's not like your going to drag me off to war or anything!"

"You know me man!" said Kevin giving a fox's thumbs up, "I've never gave a crap about this war!" The fox scoffed staring at the wall before turning back to Berkeley. "I've never agreed with any of these Southern Borders politicians."

"It's funny that you bring that up," said the lizard raising his finger while he and Kevin packed another meat box. "Because that is what has been going on in school lately."

The fox perked up over what was said. "Oh really...what things have been happening over in that school?"

While packing the meat box, Berkeley started to think. "Well, there was Mrs. Wingcock who was telling me at the beginning of the year to stay clear of my friends Cymaenie and Douglas."

Kevin snapped his fingers several times. "That's the raccoon/Anubis jackal and the wolf right?"

The lizard nodded, "Right."

The fox drawled on the conversation, "And let me guess she wants you to stay away from the raccoon/Anubis jackal, probably because they both have family and ties that connect them to the Northern Borders."

Berkeley looked at the fox in amazement. "Well, I knew it had something to do with them both being from the Northern Borders but I never knew it had anything to do with their families being involved in the war!"

The fox threw up his red furry arms in protest, "Hey hold on there my green lizard friend, I never directly said that their families were involved in the war."

"Right right." said the lizard shaking his head in agreement. "But they think that my friends are going to have a bad influence on me and it's going to hurt my academic standing."

"Oh that is a bunch a crap!" groaned Kevin waving off the theory, "I've seen your friends after work several times, they seem really cool!"

"I know, I know,." said Berkeley who was checking the next meat pack that came down. "But the thing is that they and their families both come from the Northern Borders." Berkeley gulped looking at his fox friend curiously. "Plus...me and my family come from the Northern Borders."

Kevin looked to be in shock, "Seriously? How come you never told me about this before?"

The lizard scratched his chin looking up at the ceiling. "Well, with the war going on an everything...it's on a strictly need to know basis."

The fox shifted his eyes all around the factory floor. "And work an school are okay with you being from there." He moved in closer to a whisper, "Because your kind isn't exactly liked around here."

Berkeley heaved a sigh and went back to packing his current meat box. "When my parents sent me to this town to go to school, it was told to me that I was immune to the current problems because my family has been one of the biggest patrons to the medical field in the Southern Borders."

"Okay well that makes sense." Kevin said sarcastically rolling his eyes.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Oh come on man!" exclaimed the fox, "Your friends with a raccoon/Anubis jackal and a wolf from the Northern Borders, on top of that I'm pretty sure people who have seen you in this city have thought that your also from the Northern Boarders."

"Believe me, I have thought about all that!" said Berkeley looking serious his spines flared up in anger.

Kevin looked fearful as his lizard friend got angry, he placed his hands in the air. "Hey hey, alright I know it is a touchy subject...but come on not here, not at work you'll cause too much of a scene. You don't want to get fired do you?"

The lizard calmed himself and started to relieve his tension by taking big easy breathes. "No, no I don't."

"That's good man," chuckled Kevin, "Man I thought you were going to rip my throat out and secreet on me." he was rubbing the back of his fox mane nervously.

Berkley grinned at the solutions "Your probably right about the second part with the secreeting but I doubt I would've ripped your throat out, dude."

The fox raised a black eyebrow, "Oh really...why don't you look at your work gloves then."

The lizard looked down at his white work gloves, he saw that his claws had torn through the work gloves. He looked around the entire factory, no one had seem to notice his outburst. He carefully retracted his claws back then replaced his torn work gloves with new ones.

"Your glad that every one is busy with work right now." sighed Kevin "Because if any one saw that just now, you would've been fired and then arrested on the spot."

Berkeley started to sweat uncontrollably, "Yeah...that would not of been cool."

The fox placed a hand on Berkeley's shoulder, "Relax man, I'm not going rat you out on what you did."

The lizard grasped Kevin's hand back in a sign of mutual respect. "Thanks man, I really appreciate it."

"Hey no problem!" shrugged Kevin.

"Do you think this war's going to get worse?" asked Berkeley going back to his work.

"Do you want the honest truth?" asked the fox also going back to his work.

The lizard looked up at the ceiling intently, "After all I've been dealing with the past couple of weeks I can deal with a little truth."

"Well, I think this war is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better." said Kevin who was scratching his fox paws. "And I think this war will become a global confrontation." Kevin then heaved a huge sigh before looking straight at Berkeley, his yellow eyes looking into Berkeley's own. "And I think that hard working people like you and me are going to suffer through this whole war..."

"Meaning that we'll see everything affect us at our very own homes?" asked Berkeley.

There was a saddened gleam to the fox's eyes, "No I mean people like you and me are probably going to be fighting this war on the front battle lines."

The lizard gulped as he began rubbing his long green neck. "Well, lets hope it doesn't come to that then."

"Believe me," said Kevin sincerely, "I've been hoping."

Berkeley and Kevin went back to there work packing boxes working in silence for the next several minutes. Then after twenty minutes Kevin and Berkeley's boss Mr. Ding A Chinese water fish came out of his office in a rush. He was starting to sweat from head to toe.

"Men," announced the water fish from the top balcony. "I regret to inform you that I have to leave to go on a business trip." Mr. Ding started looking around the whole factory like he was looking for something. "I'm sorry I haven't told you about it, but it came up rather suddenly."

The water fish went back into his office and started to go through what looked like a briefcase with papers in it. All the workers were confused in seeing their boss Mr. Ding in this kind of frantic state. Kevin decided to speak up.

"Sir? Mr. Ding are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine! Why?" asked the fish sticking his blue drippy head out of the office door.

"Well, it's just that sir you seem really flighty." frowned Kevin.

"Plus the fact that you have never in your illustrious twenty year career here at this meat packing plant have ever had a trip that wasn't planned ahead. You told us that yourself sir." pointed out Berkeley.

The fish started to wipe the sweat from his face. "Well, it's just that this is an urgent matter and it needs my attention!" Mr. Ding went back into his office and seemed to gather what looked to be more papers then he reappeared in the doorway. "Now ladies and gentlemen furs I have to go out in the back so I will return shortly to answer any and all of your question, plus to tell you who will be in charge during my absence."

The fish went out of the doorway and he disappeared in his office, the workers could hear the back door open and close. An eerie silence hung over all the workers, they couldn't believe what they all had heard. There was a lot of whispering and grumbling among them.

The fox leaned in towards Berkeley to whisper. "Do you believe any of this?"

Berkeley shrugged, his tail twitched nervously, "I don't know what to believe because Mr. Ding has never done this before. He always told us it was policy to plan any meetings or extra curricular activities ahead of time."

The fox looked up at Mr. Ding's office, "And why was Mr. Ding sweating profusely?"

Suddenly a knock came from the huge factory doors, a Russian Blue yelled, "Carl get the door." A burly Gorilla went and opened the factory doors, as they opened a whole handful of Southern Border F.B.I. agents stormed through the factory. They started to spread out all along inside the factory. A bulky looking tiger went up on the podium his yellow eyes piercing all the factory workers with there seriousness.

"Now I am going to say this short and sweet, and I don't want any guff from you workers." said the agent who was looking at the factory from top to bottom. "Do any of you know where we can find a Chinese fish named Mr. Copernicus Ding?"

The gorilla Carl pointed up at the office directly behind the tiger. "He just spoke to us about to minutes ago and then went into his office there."

The agent turned around and saw the office behind him, the tiger then pointed to four other F.B.I. furs that were standing near him. "You four go see if he's there!"

The four agent furs turned and went up to Mr. Ding's office, they checked the office door they turned the knob a few times finding out that it had been locked they kicked open the door and ran into the office. By this time both Berkeley and Kevin went up to the tiger to ask him a question.

"Excuse me agent sir, but may we inquire what all this is about?" asked the fox.

The tiger pushed both Kevin and Berkeley back, "I'm sorry sirs, but if you could both step back...this is an F.B.I matter."

"Can we know what the hell is going on here?" interjected Berkeley.

"Well if you must know," sighed the agent, "We have a warrant for Copernicus Ding's arrest."

"What for?" asked both the fox and the lizard.

The tiger lifted up the warrant and read it off. "Leaking information about the Southern Borders to the Northern Borders extremists."

Berkeley was shocked at what the tiger agent said, "Wait, wait, I've known Mr. Ding for three years, other guys in this factory for longer. There's no way he would be a spy working for an army."

The tiger looked at the Berkeley bluntly, "You could know some one for years and never know their deepest darkest secrets."

Suddenly there was a loud banging coming from Mr. Ding's office, it sounded if there were signs of a struggle. Every worker in the factory strained their eyes to see what was going on up in their boss's office. Then Mr. Ding's door crashed down so hard it raised up dust from the ground. Mr. Ding could be heard screaming furiously and franticly, he was being carried by two other F.B.I. agents a Gazelle and an elephant, while a bobcat agent came walking down to the tiger agent. Berkeley, Kevin, and the rest of the factory workers watched Mr. Ding as he was carried out of the factory, nobody spoke it was completely silent.

The cat agent handed the tiger a huge envelope with a bunch of papers inside it. "He was carrying Northern Border dispatches, he's as guilty as any other fish we've caught from that region."

"Well that settles it." sighed the tiger agent as he went up to the podium from which Mr. Ding spoke from. "Everyone, I just want to tell you until further notice this meat packing factory is closed."

There were huge protests coming from the workers, they started throwing cans as well as boxes at the tiger agent.

"You can't do that! Screamed Berkeley who was poised to pounce on someone.

Kevin shook his fist in agreement, "Yeah, what are we supposed to do now since your taking our jobs away?"

"I know a lot of you are upset and you have a right to be, but we do not handle lost job cases." said the tiger agent sympathetically. This caused a huge uproar from the workers, some thought about even rioting, but quickly dropped the idea with the armed F.B.I. agents.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" asked an Alligator worker.

"Like I said." the FBI tiger continued to speak not breaking his stare among the crowd of angry workers. "Until further notice this plant is closed." A sympathy smile showed on the face of the tiger. "But do not fret this plant will reopen once our investigation is complete and new management can be found. Until then go back to your homes."

After that the workers were made to turn in their cards, undress, and leave the factory. As they did both Kevin and Berkeley turned to look at the factory before the F.B.I. agents shut the doors behind them. All the workers had sad and solemn faces as they left for many of them this was the only job they could afford at the time because of the war in the Northern Borders. Others were scared because it would mean that they would be drafted for the war. Both the fox and lizard turned to face each other and it was clear both of them had the same thought on their mind.

"What do we do now?" asked Kevin. "Without this job we can't pay for are bills or nothing! Half this town depends on this plant!"

As there was huge arguing and complaining amongst all the workers Berkeley stood there rigid with fright. "If this are bad now how can they get any worse?" muttered the lizard under his breath.