Newsies Road Trip AU (nope, no creative title)

Race Likes To Live Dangerously

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Mcguffin Zoological Gardens

Indiana

7:15 PM

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Race was the first one to point out the empty petting zoo, the first one to suggest getting in by any means necessary, and the first one to try to lift the armadillo, though, in the end, it was Crutchie who actually left with it. Maybe it was because they hadn't left the car since Ohio, or maybe it was because Race likes to live dangerously, or maybe the combination of black coffee and cigars had warped his undeveloped brain, but only the fact remains: nobody knows that they were there, and only the wildest conspiracy theorists would suspect that the best animal in Mcguffin Zoological Gardens had been carried off by a bunch of teenagers from New York.

"Hey, look!" Race said, pressing his face against the window. "Jack, could we stop?"

Jack glanced in the direction Race was pointing. "It closed at six. We can't get in," he said in a slightly condescending tone.

Race laughed. "Let me out for a sec." He opened the door and ran to the gate. "Watch this! I bet the gate ain't even closed." He kneed the gate and winced. "Okay," he conceded. "Gate's closed." He tested his leg. "Well, it's not broken. I could still climb the fence."

"I'm in," Spot said, sliding out of the open door.

"Me too." Romeo followed him, then Specs.

Davey sighed. "I guess someone responsible should come."

Les grinned as his older brother reluctantly joined the group, then stood next to him. "I'm always up for an adventure."

Crutchie was last. "Ya comin', Jack?"

"Fine." Jack looked like he was struggling with himself. "Might be fun. Might get us all arrested, but it might be fun."

"Alrighty, then," proclaimed Race, who had somehow become the unofficial leader for this particular adventure. "We need to get someone over the fence so they can unlock it. Any volunteers?" There was an uncomfortable silence. Race sighed. "Fine, I'll do it myself." He pulled himself over the fence and started to fiddle with the lock. "It's stuck. There's gotta be a key somewhere."

As if cued, everybody fanned out: a few of them, who were generally less enthusiastic about the idea of breaking into a petting zoo in the dead of night, simply pawed at the ground, though most clung to the fence and whisper-shouted advice.

"Ya checked the office? I think I see a key hangin' on the wall in there."

"Try under that rock!"

Eventually, though, it was one of the aimless ground-pawers who found the key.

"Hey guys! I think there's somethin' over here!" Specs said in what could be called a whisper only with finger-quotes around it. Everybody rushed to the spot where he was kneeling. He slowly raised a small metal key with "zoo gate. DO NOT LOSE!" written on it in permanent marker. Specs noticed the marking and smirked. "Well, I guess that we should slide this under the door or somethin' on the way out. Don't want anyone gettin' in trouble." He passed the key through a gap in the fence and, a moment later, the gate swung open.

Race grinned triumphantly. "I said this place was open, didn't I?"

Jack shook his head, then responded. "All right, we managed to sneak into an empty petting zoo and I said we couldn't. No need to rub my face in it."