6/13/17 AN: Chapters 1-4 have all been revised to some extent, with Chapter 1 having been changed almost entirely, so if you're a returning reader I'd suggest going over it again so that future chapters aren't as confusing. More information at the end.
Alarms. All he could hear was alarms. They almost seemed to resonate from within his own head, bouncing around the inside of his skull like a toddler on a sugar rush. He wished they would just stop, just for a moment, just long enough to get his bearings. He had a pounding headache, which he blamed on the incessant noise that seemed to drill into his very being. Eventually, he was able to coax his eyes open, although he couldn't see much.
His vision was blurred, most likely from sleeping for so long… but why had he been asleep? He racked his brain for the answer as to why he had been asleep for so long, but the damnable alarms made it almost impossible to focus on anything. Instead, he decided to focus on what he could see. He was being held up by metal supports in a pod of some sort, vapor billowing out from vents beneath his boots. He was in a featureless black jumpsuit which was just a bit too loose, with frost covering almost every inch of his body.
That was when he noticed how cold he was. Perhaps he had just been numb to the whole time, but he was now definitely aware of his intense shivering. As his feverish movement slowed down to occasional spasms, he began to sluggishly drag his feet out from the pod, only to suddenly collapse as he put weight on his legs. Everything felt like gelatin, his muscles refusing to support his weight without the supports in the pod. I have to focus. I have get up… get out of here. He slowly rose to his feet with quivering legs, pausing for a moment to dust off his pants. Once he was sure his legs would hold, he began to hobble down the hallway, full of pods similar to the one he was just in.
He spotted a computer at the end of the hallway, mounted on the wall next to a metallic blast door. He slowly made his way over, leaning on the wall with his left arm for support while working the console with his right. Eventually the console booted up, displaying a wall of text describing the status of the facility.
STRCUTURAL DAMAGE DETECTED
ALL SURVIVING STASIS POD REMNANTS MUST EVACUATE THE FACILITY IMMEDIATELY
WARNING: MULTIPLE PODS COMPROMISED BY A-VIRUS
UNCOMPROMISED STASIS PODS: 0
REMNANTS WITH VITAL SIGNS: 1
ESTIMATED DECEASED REMNANTS: 149
Stasis pods. I remember now… we were supposed to be the last humans to make it out from the Armageddon virus. Guess even a high tech vault like this wouldn't be safe forever. But it says that all of the pods were compromised, so does that mean…?
His thoughts were interrupted by a rumble that rocked the entire vault, dust shaking free from the archaic concrete walls and ceiling. I'll have more time to think later, but right now I've got to get out of here. He slid open the blast door and shuffled down the hallway, briefly stopping at an intersection to read the signs that had been nailed to the wall. The left sign said 'Entrance' while the right said 'Stasis Pods: Left Wing'. He was about to head down the other stasis pod wing when another rumble shook the vault. This time the structure was not so lucky, the ceiling cracking and buckling under the pressure. Concrete, rocks, and other bits of rubble crashed through the weakened section, completely blocking off the left wing.
Well, the system did say no one survived right? Either way it's too late now… He solemnly shrugged before heading down the left pathway, his strength building up enough to allow him to ease into a light jog. The hallway eventually ended with another blast door, this one having a single release lever controlling the lock. He pulled the lever with little effort before sliding the door open and stepping out into what seemed like a tunnel. The outside of the door was layered with bricks that matched the rest of the tunnel walls, a trick used to hide the vault from anyone who might try to get in and inevitably compromise the entire facility. A lot of good that did.
Despite its futility, he closed the door before looking around. He looked to his left and right before doing a double take; he could see what had caused the structural damage. A flaming train car was wrecked at one end of the tunnel, which he now deduced was a subway of some sort, with rubble littering the rails. He could see a set of stairs leading out of the tunnel at the same end of the tunnel, pondering whether to risk getting blown up by the train just to get out of the tunnel. There's no telling how long this subway will hold up, and that is the fastest way out after all. He shook his head before starting to jog over to the stairs, his pace quickening as he neared the burning wreckage. He was practically sprinting by the time he made it to the bottom of the steps, taking two at a time in order to get away as fast as possible. He practically jumped out of his skin when another explosion erupted from the car while he was still ascending the stairs, rattling his bones and leaving his ears ringing for a few moments.
The steps eventually emerged into a museum of some sort, with various exhibits all in varying stages of completion. Some were practically done, while others still had scaffolding encircling them. All of this was held in one extensively large room, with a single pit in the middle. That was when he spotted three humanoid figures near the center of the room. He quickly darted behind a plastic bear mannequin that was missing its head, slowly peering around from behind his cover. Upon closer inspection the humanoid figures looked like parts of the exhibit, a sheep being flanked by two rams. Only, they were standing. On two legs. Wait, what?
He debated on whether to get out from behind the mannequin or stay in cover. For all he knew, he could just be hallucinating from sheer exhaustion and long-term exposure to whatever chemicals they had used to freeze him. Inevitably, curiosity got the better of him and he cautiously peered out from behind the mannequin, making sure to not expose too much of his body. Upon closer inspection, he could tell that he had in fact seen a sheep and two rams standing on their hind legs, but they were definitely not part of the exhibit.
At first he assumed they were trained animals, with the sheep wearing a suit and clutching a brief case while the rams wore what looked to be knockoff police uniforms. Their badges aren't in the right place, and they're missing some of the standard issue equipment. Definitely fake uniforms. He smiled inwardly as he briefly remembered the times when his dad would coach him on telling the differences between real uniforms and fakes. Knockoffs could be pretty convincing, but nothing ever came close to the original. With all of this in mind, he came to the conclusion that they were circus animals. Really, really well trained circus animals. That is, until the sheep looked straight at him… and its mouth moved as if to form words. He ducked behind the mannequin far too quickly, knocking his foot into the base and causing the statue to teeter precariously.
"Hey!" a feminine voice called out from the far end of the room. "You have five seconds to show yourself!" Is that one of the animals talking? "One!" It doesn't really matter does it. "Two!" They obviously don't like me that much. "Three!" Whatever I do this can't end well. "Four!" The heavy sound of two sets of hooves hitting tile began echoing throughout the room, signaling that the rams were starting to make their way towards him. "Five!" The hoof-steps picked up pace immediately, coming ever closer to his hiding spot. When he was sure they were about to reach him, he sprinted out from behind the mannequin.
He had guessed the correct side, the rams having charged to the opposite side of the statue. It didn't take long for them redirect their course, and it wasn't long before they began barreling towards him once again. He began sprinting away from the animals but quickly realized that they were gaining on him. He dove out of the way of the first one, scrambling to pick himself up off the floor. He was still somewhat groggy, however, and he was barely able to get himself up off the floor before the second ram collided into him and sent him skidding across the room. His left arm went numb from the shoulder down, but he couldn't tell whether it was from the rough landing or the impact itself.
He struggled to get back up, his disabled limb hanging uselessly in front of him. There wasn't enough time to worry about it though, as the animals were already preparing another charge. He instinctively started backpedaling as he looked for a way out. The stairwell he had come from was too far away to even consider, and the front door wasn't much better. The only option he had was to escape into the pit at the center of the room. He turned on his heel and began limping as fast as he could manage towards the hole, the sound of approaching hooves providing ample motivation. He didn't even think twice before jumping down into the exhibit, catching his fall with a sloppy stumble due to the unexpected depth.
He briefly forgot about his pursuers upon seeing the pit's other inhabitants. A fox in a green Hawaiian print shirt and khaki slacks was looked up from a wounded rabbit wearing a red flannel and jeans with a bloodstain around what he presumed was the left shin. Both of them looked at each other in bewilderment before turning back to him. The two rams as well as the sheep peered over the edge of the pit shortly after, their expressions not much different from the fox or the rabbit.
"Now just what are you?" the sheep asked condescendingly, her voice clearly the same one he heard counting down before.
"Pissed," he answered with a grimace.
The sheep chuckled darkly and shook her head. "Great, another smart-mouth. I'm getting really tired of this, so I'm only going to ask this one more time before I have my associates finish the job. What are you?"
"Human, last time I checked," he answered sarcastically. "Now, here's my question. Since when do animals talk, or am I still on ice?"
The sheep gave him a wicked smile before answering, "A human just comes out of nowhere and demands that I start answering its questions? You obviously don't know what's going on, so I'll be nice and just tell you. My name is Mayor Bellweather, and I'm going to kill you." Bellweather popped open the case and pulled out what looked to be a type of pistol with an attached suppressor. "Well not me specifically, that would be far too much work. No no, I'm going to be much more creative than that. You see this here," she said while shaking the gun for emphasis, "is loaded with a little something called 'Nighthowlers'. One shot from this and the next thing you know, you'll be tearing apart anything in sight, including our friends here! When the police arrive, they'll have no choice but to put you down, and they'll do my job for me!"
The rabbit defiantly looked up at the sheep. "You can't honestly believe you can get away with this, do you?"
"Why Judy, of course I do! No one would ever expect little miss Bellweather to be behind something like this, not when the headlines will be filled with news about a human having killed Zootopia's first bunny cop and her sleazy friend."
The human shook his head in confusion. "I still don't get it. Why? What's the point of all this?"
"Because predators are a plague on this city!" Bellweather shouted. "They're criminals and cheats, always looking to one-up other mammals. Prey live in perpetual fear, wondering if they might be next on the list of victims. Mammals still cling to the belief that we can all coexist and live as one big happy city, but not anymore. Not when everyone will be afraid of the predator next door going savage at any given moment. We'll have no choice but to herd them out of the city, for our safety of course. We might even have to put shock collars on them! Maybe not, but a girl can dream can't she?"
The sheep inspected the pistol in her hand before saying, "Well, enough about me. It's time to do your part." The human barely even had time to blink before Bellweather fired off a shot at his neck. He winced as the projectile broke, splashing a cold, blue liquid across his skin. He shut his eyes in anticipation, only, nothing happened. The only abnormality he detected was the faint odor of fresh blueberries coming from the splotch on his neck.
Every animal was looking at him with bated anticipation, although the fox and the rabbit were more worried than intrigued. Something is supposed to be happening, isn't it? Gotta think fast…
He looked up at Bellweather and shrugged with his good shoulder. "Guess your Nighthowlers don't work. And here I thought you were actually serious."
"I had Doug double check all of his calculations to make sure this worked on every mammal in existence…" the Bellweather pondered out loud.
"Did you check to make sure it works on humans?" he said with a sly grin.
The sheep scratched her chin in thought. "Maybe you're right, so I'll just have to go with plan B. Foxy, you're up!" She let off another shot, this time hitting the fox in the cheek. It wasn't long before the predator started convulsing on the floor, clawing at the ground and anything else he could get his paws on. Unless that sheep is just firing off blueberries like I think she is, this is going to get ugly really fast. The human looked over at the rabbit with the hint of a question on his face, quickly glancing over at the writhing creature before looking back at the bunny. She gave him a wink before turning back to the fox with a mortified expression. This is all one big hoax, isn't it?
He decided to play along, watching the fox with morbid curiosity as it began stalking the bunny on all fours. All she could do was crawl away from him, the gash in her leg keeping her from standing upright. "Nick, snap out of it!" she cried, her voice convincingly terrified. Eventually she ran out of crawl space as she reached the wall of the exhibit, meekly extending her paw out in hopes that the savage predator would stop his advance. The fox simply snarled before leaping at her and closing his jaws around her throat. The bunny let out an overly dramatic scream before letting her head limply fall to the side. "And… dead."
The man suppressed a laugh as he saw Bellweather's self-assured smile fall apart, mumbling to herself in disbelief. "I'm getting the feeling that your stuff just isn't doing the trick, although that might be because you're trying to shoot us with blueberries."
The fox released the rabbit from his jaws before they both turned to the sheep. "Anything else you'd like to add before the ZPD arrive?" the rabbit taunted as she pulled out a carrot-shaped recorder.
As if on cue, a variety of mammals in proper police uniforms rushed into the museum, a large cape buffalo leading the charge. "ZPD! Nobody move!" he yelled as he aimed a tranquilizer at Bellweather. She merely dropped the briefcase and her gun on the floor, blankly staring down into the pit with her arms at her side. The rams slowly rose their arms above their heads as they glared at the advancing officers.
"Got your call Hopps," the buffalo noted as he handcuffed Bellweather. "Although I wasn't exactly expecting this." He gave the human an accusatory stare. "Care to explain?"
The man frowned at the officer. "Sure, as soon as you get me out of this pit that is. I feel like I've been fighting to stay alive since I woke up, and right now I don't exactly have a lot of trust to give."
The buffalo pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Fine, but all of you are going to explain what's going on." With that, the officer began walking back towards the main entrance while radioing for a ladder.
Finally, a chance to just relax and catch my breath. The man sat down against a fake palm tree, taking great care to not use his bad arm. After he settled in, he began testing his shoulder by moving this left arm in slow circles. Despite the occasional spike of pain from moving the wrong way, he still had almost complete control over his motions. Probably just a bad bruise, nothing to worry about.
It wasn't until he finished examining his arm that he noticed the fox and the rabbit talking to each other in hushed whispers while trying to steal glances of him. "I don' bite if that's what you're wondering," he said with a tired smile.
"Sorry it's just… you're really a human?" the rabbit asked cautiously.
The man nodded. "As human as the day I was born, name's Daniel. I'm assuming you're Judy and he's Nick?" The two mammals nodded in confirmation. "So, a fox and a rabbit. How'd you two meet anyway?"
They began talking about the how they first met, with each of them taking turns to fill in details that other either couldn't remember or didn't know about. It wasn't long before the story transitioned over to the Nighthowler case, from discovering the secret containment facility, to the dance with the death at the waterfall, and even the disastrous press conference. Eventually they caught up to the present, explaining how Bellweather had cornered them in the museum after they had discovered and proceeded to destroy the drug lab.
"I guess if it weren't for you guys, I'd still be asleep, so thanks for that," Daniel quipped.
"I was meaning to ask," Judy began, "what did you mean by 'still on ice'?"
The man let out a long sigh. "To put a long story short, humanity was on the brink of extinction due to some sort of super virus. Our last resort was to put people with the highest chance of immunity in cryo-stasis in hopes that we could outlast the disease. Turns out I was the only one to make it out of my facility."
"Jeez, that's rough…" Nick mumbled. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that."
Daniel merely shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing you nor anybody else could do to stop it. In all honesty, the fact that everyone died was something I'd already come to accept. We all knew that it was a longshot before we went under, and after watching so many people die… I figured we would be joining them soon. And yet, here I am." He dragged his hands down his face in exasperation before continuing. "I guess what really b"others me is that I might be the last human on Earth. Everyone's looking at me as if I belong in this museum. Kinda gives me the impression that no one has ever seen, or will ever see, another human. Not to mention that society is now made up of talking animals—no offense. Everything just feels so… surreal."
Before anyone could say anything else, a metallic ladder was deployed down the edge of the pit. Everyone reached the silent consensus to pick up the conversation another time and they began making their way out of the pit. The same buffalo officer from before was waiting for them at the top of the ladder. His stony demeanor lapsed into concern when he saw Judy's gash, but he quickly corrected his appearance.
"Hopps, go see the paramedic. Once you're cleared, all of you will be debriefed at the precinct. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir Chief Bogo!" Judy responded enthusiastically. Nick nodded nonchalantly, and Daniel gave him a blank stare as he studied the chief.
"Do I make myself clear?" Bogo repeated, looking Daniel right in the eye.
"Crystal, sir." This is looking to be a really long day, isn't it?
A/N: I believe this marks the beginning of my latest project, hopefully it goes better than the last one and I don't hit a block so bad that I leave it on indefinite hiatus. This idea came to me probably the same way it came to everyone else who was ever thought 'what if a human was in Zootopia?', but I wanted to do it some justice. So, here we are. For future reference I will be posting the music I listen to while writing at the end of each future chapter, just in case anyone wants to set the mood, with M meaning that it actually fits the mood, while anything with N means that I just listened to it because why not.
M: Black Racers - Fixions (Mother Russia Bleeds and/or Euphorion versions)
N: Strafe Soundtrack - ToyTree, Judicator Album - Stilz, Neotokyo OST - Ed Harrison
6/13/17 Update: Before I continued on to chapter 5, I wanted to make sure that 1-4 felt right. So, After taking a long, hard look,I felt that a lot of the character interaction was far too casual when considering the fact that they all barely knew each other. Not only that, but Daniel is a human surrounded by animals that we have been taught to be wary of for all of our lives. Thus, all of the characters are a bit more reserved and cautious around each other, but not to the extent that dialogue is completely different. Still, there are considerable changes in each chapter, so I'd suggest going through all of them to make sure everything is under wraps.
Oh yeah, I also renamed every chapter after various synthwave tracks. The songs themselves typically don't fit the tone of the chapter, but their names are conveniently relevant. If you get the references, kudos to you.
