Chapter 2: All Aboard
The thoughts of the previous day slowly faded as Jo gently brushed over her son's shoulder. "Ya ready t'go home, sugar fox," she whispered softly into one of his ears as he watched the hustle and bustle of the big city swarm around them.
The fox was happy that Kody wasn't trying to hide behind her again, though, when they'd first arrived at the station, he had. The vixen had solved that fairly quickly by getting him a chocolate milkshake that was made with soft serve ice cream. He'd been slurping and nursing on it for at least fifteen minutes as he leaned against his mother, eyes watching as hundreds of different mammal species wandered past him.
"Yes, mama," he said softly, his lips still wrapped around the straw as his tail flopped about behind him. His mother smiled softly as she leaned in to give him a little kiss on the top of his head. "Ya ready t'be wake the whole trip?"
The kit nodded his head enthusiastically as he started to ignore the milkshake entirely, "Yes, mama! I cain't wait!"
Jo smiled at her son. She was just about to say something when a booming voice roared over the station's loudspeakers. "Now Boarding on Platform 10, The Homesteader to Duwamish with stops in Bunnyburrow, Wolfsberg, Todsglen, Clydesdale, Aegidienberg, Holstetten, Aure et Saint-Girons, Tervurenmont, and Bernardville."
The vixen reached out to take her son's hand, "C'mon Kody. We gots t'git t'our train."
The kit held onto her hand warmly, still clutching onto his Robin Hood doll and his milkshake. "Okay, mama."
His mother smiled as they started to make their way through the throngs of mammals, weaving in and out of the packs, herds, troops, and prides. The vixen set a decent pace for her kit, the little fox scampering just slightly behind her trying to keep up. Somehow, the kit managed to not drop his toy or his milkshake the entire time as they darted between people to get to the platform.
Jo came to a near screeching halt as she and her son ended up at the back of the line. This train wasn't like the one they'd taken almost a week ago. This was a long-haul train that went nearly clear across the country to the massive emerald city of Duwamish, so it was as dull and plain, the exterior a brushed metal from the engine to the last car with the barest of markings on it.
The vixen kept holding on to her son's hand as they slowly started to move with the line. Her ears flicked about on her head as they each took a single step at a time until coming to one of the many conductors. The large bury St. Bernard smiled at the two foxes as he stuck out his hand, "Tickets please."
Jo nodded and presented the two tickets. The domestic took the two paper slips, giving them a once over before taking out a hole punch and making a hole in each one. "Enjoy the trip, miss. Your seats are upstairs above the sleepers," He said with a big smile before stepping aside to let the two foxes board.
Kody looked about as he held onto his mother's hand tightly as the two slipped into the car before climbing the stairs to the second level. The vixen was looking at the tickets, as she guided her son down the single main aisle. A row of seats ran down either side of the aisle from the front of the car to the rear in sets of twos, the chairs looking like something Jo and Kody would have seen if there had been any flights to Bunnyburrow. Being a small rural town, the only airport Bunnyburrow had was non-towered with a short runway. When it was built back in the 1930s, it serviced single and twin engine airliners that rarely carried more than ten passengers. Now though, no airlines would service the airport because of the short runway, so it had been taken over by crop dusters and a flight school.
Slowly, the mother-son pair found their way to their seat. Jo let Kody slide in first, a big grin on his face as he took off his backpack before sitting next to the large window. His mother put the backpack and her leather bag in the overhead compartment above them before joining her son in his amazement as he looked out at Zootopia Central Station, a city within the city.
Other passengers sauntered by them, most not paying any attention to the two foxes as they slid into their assigned seats to either start reading or continue their conversations. When all the passengers were seated, their personal cargo loaded, the train's whistle blew as the conductors began to close the doors.
Kody and Jo felt the train lurch as the engine kicked in, slowly tugging on the cars behind it to start its locomotion.