Chapter 1

The deep sound of rolling thunder and the hard smacks of rain against Nicks bedroom window had just begun. Nick woke up to a particularity loud boom, coming from the dark cloud that hung over the massive city of Zootopia. He laid down on the bed, head and muzzle engulfed by his pillow as he glared up at his alarm clock which had failed to go off. Luckily, the natural alarm had taken its place. It had been two months since the night howler case and nick and Judy were now partners. They were also closer than everyone thought they were, because there's no way both of them would want everyone knowing that a bunny and a fox are in a relationship.

The clock read 5:30 in big red numbers. It was time for nick to get up and go to work. He struggled to get up, first putting both paws on his bed and rotating himself onto his back. He then proceeded to remove the blankets off of his warm furry body, which became cold as soon as he did. Nick put his paws on his arms, rubbing them up and down to create some heat. Resisting the urge to climb back under his blanket and be all cozy and warm. He put his hind paws on the cold hardwood floor that covered most of the floors in his apartment. He suddenly realized how dark the room was, with the exception of the bright flashes of lightning that came every second, or so it seemed to nick. He slowly stood up and navigated through his dark room over to his door with his paws still on his arms, "Damn, why is it so cold?" he softly said to himself. He gritted his teeth as he used one of his paws to open the door to his bedroom.

He walked out into the hallway that connected his living room, bedroom and bathroom and walked into the adjacent room, which was the bathroom. He walked into the dark room, his paw feeling the wall for the light switch. he felt it and flicked it on, instantly giving the room a dull flickering light. The flicker gave nick a slight headache. He put up a paw and squinted as the flicker went away but the room got brighter. His eyes adjusted to the luminosity as he started to walk towards the small shower in the corner of his bathroom. He turned a nob and cold water started to spray out of the shower head. While he waited for the water to heat up, he took off his underwear and looked at himself in the slowly fogging mirror. He noticed that his fur was all matted and scruffy, and that he looked no better than a homeless animal. Nick gave the mirror a smirk and said "Much better" before turning around and facing the hot shower that was behind him.

He stepped into the hot flowing water, his body slowly adjusting from really cold to really hot. He leaned backwards letting the water surround him, as he put his entire head into the stream. The warm water flowed down his scruffy body, flattening out any spots that were sticking up. He smiled at the sensation, even though he had felt it every day, it didn't fail to please him. After a short, relaxing shower, Nick stepped out with the water still flowing. The entire room was filled with steam and the mirror no longer had its reflection. Nick grabbed the towel that was on a hanger beside the shower. He started to dry his fur off with the mangy towel, that didn't do very well but it was enough. Even though he loved to be dried off in the steam filled room, he knew that if he didnt turn off the shower his landlord would drain his wallet to pay for the water. He faced the shower once again and twisted the knob the opposite direction, restricting the flow with a rusty squeak. He turned around and walked towards the door, the wet tile flooring under his paws. He opened the door to immediately be greeted by the cold air that filled the rest of his house. He ran through into the hallway and into his room, desperate to get some clothes on.

In his room, he saw a mess of discarded clothes on his floor and paper littered all over his desk. He ignored the mess and walked straight to his closet. He picked out a clean police uniform and proceeded to put it on, piece by piece. He never would have thought these are the clothes he would be wearing one day but here he is, a police officer for the ZPD. He finished putting the outfit on and walked into his bathroom once again, looking at himself in the mirror. He thought that he looked pretty good in uniform but he wasn't sure if anyone else thought the same. He recited, "Sly fox" he said pointing at himself "Dumb bunny" he said again with a smirk pointing at the mirror in front of him. Leaving the bathroom he walked into the living room with an open kitchen connected to it. He walked over to the kitchen and made himself a cup of black coffee. He sat down at the small table in his living room, about to take his first sip of coffee when a bright flash of lightning came through his window, making him jump. He glared at the rain, still pounding on his window. He went in for another sip when his phone in his room started to ring and buzz violently. "What is it now?!" He said loudly, as if the phone could hear him. He put down the cup on his coffee table and started walking towards his room.

He got to the bright phone on his bedside table in his room. He was greeted by the sweet face of his partner, Judy Hopps. He picked up his phone looking at the wallpaper he had set of her whenever she called. He gave out a soft smile and answered the call.

"Carrots?" Nick said worried. She had never called him this early

"Nick" Judy said in a serious tone

"What is it carrots? You never call me this early?"

"Have you seen the news?" She replied, sending nick into a curious, worried mix of emotions.

"No, What is it?" Nick questioned

"I think you better see it for yourself"

Nick ran over to his living room again, completely ignoring the coffee he was originally dying to drink. The news channel was number 6. Nick grabbed the remote and fumbled around a bit, desperate to find out what had a strong bunny like Judy upset.

"Nick? You still there?" Judy asked worriedly

"Yeah" Nick said pressing the number 6 on his remote "Why would I not be"

"Just..." Judy stopped

"Judy are you ok?" Nick said, getting increasingly worried

"No, i'm not" Judy said.

"Jud..." The news host started to speak, cutting nick off. He was to distracted to finish his sentence.

"We have been informed that an epidemic, unlike anything we have ever seen before has started to ravage through cities around the globe" The Russian snow leopard on Nick screen started. "We currently have no reports of the disease inside of zootopia, but we have no way of stopping it from getting here" Nick stood there, staring at the graphic pictures of the infected. An elephant, deer, wolves, and then it showed a picture of a female bunny, with bloodshot eyes and a dead limp body. Nicks heart stopped at the thought of Judy ending up like that.

"Judy?" Nick checked if she was still there

"Nick, its really bad and i'm scared to death" Judy said in a very worried tone, with tears almost in her eyes.

"Listen to me carrots," Nick started "No matter how bad this is, or how bad it will become, I'm always gonna be here with you, right by your side, partner."

The host started to talk again. Judy was about to say something but was interrupted by the leopard on Nicks side of the call. The rain fell harder but that didn't break Nicks concentration

"New orders from the mayor are, all police officers should meet at the police station immediately for briefing." She said in a calm voice

"I guess we still got a job to do right carrots?"

"Yeah, i guess so" Judy said with a sniffle "Thank you Nick, Ill meet you at the station"

"Ok, stay safe Judy"

"Bye" Judy hung up

Nick stood by his coffee table, looking down at the coffee he had made. He turned away, he didn't need caffeine now, he was running on adrenaline. He opened the locked door to his apartment and walked into the hallway, locking the door behind him. Another bright flash of lightning came through the hall window, followed by a deep roar of thunder. The ominous hallway made nick nervous, he pulled at his collar, realizing how tight it felt on his neck, now that things were more serious than they have ever been. He stepped into the small elevator at the end of the long hall. The doors closed as he pressed the ground floor button. He waited in the elevator, alone. He just wished that Judy was there to comfort him and to give him some company at a time like this. He realized that he had never enjoyed her presence this much before. Nick accidentally blushed just thinking about her beautiful eyes and her soft fur and... "Snap out of it!" Nick said to himself loudly. A high pitched ding noise indicated that he was at his floor. He walked out into the boring lobby, noticing that it was completely empty. Nick found it strange but didn't pay to much attention to it.

Nick opened the glass door that made the entrance to his shifty looking apartment building. He walked out into the hard rain, as it pelted his head. "Ow, ow, ow!" He said loudly as he started his sprint towards his fox sized car that sat in the parking lot, stepping in multiple puddles along the way. He flung the door to his car wide open in a desperate attempt to get inside as fast as possible. The car was dry and some what clean, at least to nick. He climbed in the car on the drivers side and put his keys in the ignition, feeling the vehicle roar to life. The rain smashed against the car windows and roof, with unrelenting force, which slightly worried nick as he pulled out of his spot in the parking lot and drove onto the road. Traffic wasn't to bad either so it didn't take him long to wonder where everyone had gone, since this is normally when people started to leave there homes. Once again he ignored the absence of animals in his area and drove to the police station freely.

He arrived at the police station, close to soaking wet because of the run he had made to get inside. The glass sliding doors in the entrance to the building were massive compared to him, but they did there job. He looked through crowds of animals, hoping to get a glance of Judy. Luckily, There she was, talking to Clawhauser. A wash of relief came over Nick as he was so happy to see her still alive. He walked over to the desk, wearing his usual smirk, attempting to hide the worries he had.

"Judy!" Nick called

"Nick!" Judy turned around to see the handsome red fox she had been dying to see "I'm so glad to see you!"

Judy ran towards nick and slammed into him giving him a massive hug. Nick was supersized and held his hands away from her at first. He eventually embraced the hug and put his furry arms around her. They pulled away and saw a few animals looking at them, but then ignoring the friendly embrace and thinking nothing of it, since there was a massive epidemic on the move. Judy blushed when she looked back and saw Clawhauser obsessing over the hug.

"Don't mind him" Nick said crouching so he could be level with her. As she turned around he continued "I'm glad to see you too"

Nick and Judy walked towards the briefing room where chief Bogo would be waiting to nag them. When they opened the door chief Bogo said nothing. Nick looked at Judy and Judy looked back at Nick, both were confused because they knew that they were late.

"Have a seat" Bogo simply said

The two took the orders and sat down in the same seat together, side by side.

"I am sure that you have already heard about the epidemic that inevitably will arrive here" He started "But we still have to enforce law and keep people safe. Is that clear"

"Yes Sir!" Everyone in the room said with minor enthusiasm. This is where Nick would usually make a small joke but he felt like everyone was a bit too serious for one.

"Now, we have reports of riots starting in downtown with all kinds of animals, herbivores, carnivores, you name it. Also we are dealing with massive amounts of looting, assault, and so on" He said seriously

"These animals are armed and dangerous, and.." he stopped. Nick had never seen him this nervous before. Nicks eyes widened, waiting to see what was holding him back.

"And we have been given permission to use lethal force" He said sadly

Every animal in the room gasped in confusion, including Nick and Judy.

"I know" He started to explain "ZPD officers are almost never allowed to carry or use fire arms but... Desperate times call for desperate measures. Now all of you, head down to the armory"

He immediately dismissed all of the animals in the room. Nick started to walk out of the room with the rest of the crowd when he felt a furry paw grab his. He had no time to react, Judy pulled him towards the front of the room where Bogo sat in a chair looking down at the two with a sigh.

"Chief Bogo?" Judy started "How are we supposed to ensure everyone's safety with armed criminals and an epidemic on the way?"

"I thought i told you to go to the armory" He said with mild force "Ill be down in a minute now go"

"Just tell me" Judy forced

Bogo gave in "Alright, The animals that are armed will fight against our authority and that means we might have to fight back, but that doesn't mean we wont give them a chance. We could lose a few officers, and more importantly, a few citizens. All we can do is try our best. I don't know why i'm telling you this, its just that i feel like you two need to survive." He paused "The full plan is to evacuate the entire city to keep the majority of the population safe if this gets out of hand, and so far, that's where its heading."

Judy gasped "leave Zootopia?"

"Its quite logical actually" Nick added "A lot of cities are probably going into anarchy, Right Bogo?"

"Correct" Bogo said softly "But you two still need to go out there and do your job." He tried to hold back the info that he held as he cringed at inner pain, but failed "This is supposed to be confidential but im telling you two because your different, and future generations could need role models like you" He let out in a loud voice

"Excuse me?" Judy asked

"Its obvious, you two love eachother" He said

"What, us? No way" Nick said nervously, taking a step away from Judy

"Alright, cut the shit Nick" Bogo said forcefully "After being a cop for so many years I've seen the dark side of the world and you two made me realize that maybe there still is hope for it, hope for change"

Nick opened his mouth to protest but Judy stopped him

"Thank you, I thought you would disapprove" Judy said

"There's not much more i can do now, I try my best to understand"

Nick suddenly pulled Judy close to his chest, feeling finally accepted by someone other than Judy. Judy didn't struggle, she enjoyed it when Nick did that and let out a soft smile.

"The evacuation will start at the south west train station" Bogo said as the two made their way towards the door "Make sure your there"

"Thank you so much" Judy said walking out into the empty lobby with Nick "Wait!" she said to Nick as she held the door to the briefing room open

"Will you be there?" she asked

Bogo replied with a soft glare that got the message across, He wont be.