The First Culling

Fourteen Years Ago

Her father let out a shaky breath as a chill ran down her spine. The house began to shake – the entire land quaking at the arrival of the soldiers. Picture frames vibrated on the mantle and the glassware rattled in the kitchen. They heard a book fall somewhere in the house as the trembling continued.

Nine year-old Judy Hopps froze in place. The house was silent – all she could hear was the distant sound of engines. She glanced into the kitchen where she saw her mother. She stood still, wiping a plate with a cloth. There were tears in her eyes.

Her father looked at her. "Go upstairs and tell your siblings to hide with you in the basement. Your mom and I will stay up here and wait things out."

Judy quickly nodded before darting upstairs. She stopped when she arrived on the second floor. What was she to tell them?

She was the eldest child of her nine siblings. Sara was just a year younger than her, the rest were either four or six, depending on their litter. Judy was responsible for their safety, now more than ever.

It had been a subject of conversation until quite recently. She heard her parents quietly discuss it a few times between themselves. On those hot, starry nights in the country, they'd sit out on the porch, watching the moon rise and listening to the crickets. Judy once overheard them talking about an event – The Culling.

She hadn't overheard the details of thing, just that the military might come and do something one day. She had once tried to find the definition of 'culling' at the library, only to be barred completely – prey could not use a dictionary.

Her parents had remained awfully quiet these past few days. They rarely talked at all during the day. In her bed, Judy could hear their muffled conversations downstairs. She once heard her mother break down into tears.

Judy laid awake that whole night.

Now, she was to do as her father said. She pushed open a door, revealing three of her sisters. All of them were four. They must have been playing with a toy castle. They set down the figurines and looked at her. Judy spoke up. "Mom and Dad want us to go down, into the basement."

They continued to stare.

Judy became angry. "Well, get a move on!"

She moved out of the way as her siblings – Ana, Kirsten, and Mary hurried out of the room and into the hall. As she moved on to the next door, she heard their feet shuffle down the stairway. Judy pushed open the second door.

Four of her brothers and her sister were in the room. All five of them stared out of their window, paying little attention to Judy. "Guys," Judy whispered. "guys."

They all turned to look at Judy. They were older than her other sisters – all of them turning seven later this year. Judy shook her head and looked at the floor. "Y'all need to come on down and get in the basement. Mom and Dad said."

They all stood up and started towards the door except for her brother, Cameron. He sat on his bunk bed, continuing to stare outside.

"Cam!" Judy whispered. "Cam, you need to get on down there!"

He didn't respond. Cameron continued to stare outside. Frustrated, Judy huffed and walked over to him. "Cam, we need to go."

"Look," Cam said, pointing outside. Judy slowly shifted her eyes towards what he was pointing at.

There was a convoy of military vehicles – about ten of them, driving down a road in the distance. They kicked up the dry dirt behind them, leaving a streak of dust down the countryside. Several miles out, she could make out wisps of smoke climbing into the sky. Helicopters – appearing as little more than circling, black dots from here, hovered around.

She looked back at the convoy. They were still some distance away, perhaps two or three miles. Two sleek, black, SUVs led the way, followed by several military vehicles. Behind them were two tanks, both traveling their absolute fastest. She hadn't imagined them being able to travel that quickly.

About half of the vehicles peeled off of the main road, heading towards the smoke. Shortly afterwards, the rest of the vehicles made a sharp turn towards their house.

They were coming here.

Judy swallowed. "Get down into the basement."

Cam looked up at his sister, his eyes pleading.

Judy shook her head and raised her voice. "Get down now!"

Her father suddenly burst into the room. He grabbed both of them by the arms and pulled them out of the room. His grip was strong, but Judy noticed his paws were trembling. "Get away from the windows."

"Dad, I saw..." Judy started.

"I know, baby, I know." her father said in response. "Cam, you get down into the basement, you hear me? Go on down and stay down there."

Cam quickly nodded before dashing towards the basement. They could hear his rapid steps down the stairs and into the living room. Stu looked back at Judy. There were tears in her eyes. She finally let it out. "Daddy, what's goin' on?"

He sighed, trying to figure out what exactly to say. "Some very bad people are coming. I saw the trucks an' all too. They're gonna want to divide us, they're gonna want to split us up, but guess what?"

Through tears, Judy was barely able to whisper. "What?"

"They won't." her father said. There was a kind of assurance, confidence, in his voice. "We'll always, and I mean always, have each other. You got that? We'll always be a family, no matter what happens, alright?"

Judy nodded.

Her father wiped away one of her tears with his thumb. "Now, what I need you to do is go into the basement and stay completely, absolutely silent, you hear me? If even one peep comes from y'all, some very bad things might happen."

He managed to smile. "Mom and I are gonna situate some things up here. You've got this. We trust you."


It was only ten minutes before Judy heard the front door open. The floorboards shuddered as air was let into the house. She heard a door slam shut in the back of the house – it always did that when someone opened the front door.

Judy was perched atop a crate of grain, her ear pressed against the bottom of the floorboard. All of her siblings surrounded her in the basement. They mostly sat in the far corner, the furthest point from the basement door. Sara sat just beside Judy. Everyone was silent – no one dared to say a word.

She looked around the basement for a second. It was warm. There was a gas lantern in the corner of the room, providing some light. It cast their shadows all around the room, flickering with the gas. The whole area was more of a storage shed than a basement or storm shelter – sacks of grain and boxes of farm equipment rested against the bare planks of wood keeping the structure together. She could see the dirt and dust between the planks.

The basement was also cramped. The ceiling was no more than four or five feet above the ground – a perfect size for one or two rabbits, not ten children.

Through the spaces between the old, rotting floorboards, Judy could make out the underside of the kitchen table. The basement had been dug directly under the dining room – it was the most secure part of the house in the event of a storm.

Judy heard her father. She could barely see the corner of his ear in the hallway. His words were slow and stern. "What are you doing here?"

There was another voice. She couldn't see who was speaking, but it sounded like a female wolf. It was smooth, yet gravelly. She couldn't quite explain it. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

Stu glanced at the table. Even if the wolf looked closely, he would have a hard time noticing his children. He looked back at the wolf. "Sure."

The wolf pulled out a chair and sat down – it was Stu's chair. She was slightly too big for the chair, but she sat down anyways. She took out a handkerchief and dabbed her snout for a moment before placing it back in her pocket and grinning. "So, how are you?"

"Not bad." Stu said. He looked over the wolf's uniform. It was different from most soldiers – there was no real protective gear, instead she wore a clean, gray, neatly-patted uniform. Her gray coat of fur was sometimes indiscernible from it. She didn't wear a helmet either. The wolf was probably an officer.

The wolf chuckled for a moment. "I'm so sorry, you're probably wondering what to say. My name is Elizabeth Clawthorn."

"Didn't know they were letting women wolves be officers." Stu said. "Must be dire times for the predator population, declining births and all."

She smiled for a moment before firing back a response. "Because the Burrows are the most forward-thinking, huh, Stu Hopps?"

He froze for a second. This wasn't a random stop – this was entirely planned. He swallowed.

"And, if I do remember correctly, your wife is Bonnie Hopps?" she asked.

"Yeah, she's my wife." Stu said.

Elizabeth seemed to be waiting for an answer. "So, where is she?"

Stu shook his head for a moment. "She's upstairs. I kind bring her down, if you want."

"Actually, I'm quite content with how I am, thank you." Elizabeth said. "And, according to your file, you do have, what, nine, ten children?"

Stu continued to stand. "We don't have any children here."

"You're saying the file is wrong?"

"Yes."

Elizabeth sighed for a moment. She glanced around the room for moment. "Alright, I'll buy that. Of course, the chance of a mistake appearing on a citizen's file is extremely low, especially since the computers have been double-checking for these kinds of errors for the better part of the year."

"I don't know what to tell you." Stu said. "Your file's wrong."

"Alright." Elizabeth agreed. She grinned again before taking a breath. "Stu Hopps, are you aware of The Culling?"

Stu shrugged. "Who isn't? Up until the past week or so, talking heads have been yappin' on the TV, been tellin' us for a month now."

"Good, good." Elizabeth said, nodding. "They probably told you about it, but they didn't say why, did they?"

Stu thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't think so."

Elizabeth smirked. "So, let me explain, and get your wife down here."

"Why?"

"She needs to know." she said. "There are rebel factions out there – they've been giving out false and skewed information. I'd rather you and her hear it from us directly, 'cause you know those rebels. She doesn't have to say anything, you guys just have to listen."

Stu hesitated for a moment. The wolf wasn't trustworthy – that was obvious. Still, she seemed to buy his story about the kids. At this point, it'd be better to play along and get them out of the house as soon as possible. He finally caved in. "Bonnie!"

The two waited for a moment. They heard footsteps above them and in the hall before she appeared in the stairway. Her eyes were red and her ears were drooped. "What is it?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Come on over, I want to have a talk with all y'all."

Bonnie looked at Stu, as if asking for confirmation. He nodded slightly. Bonnie continued down the stairs and stood beside her husband.

Elizabeth looked at the two for a moment before speaking. "This is weird. Can you guys take a seat with me? Table's big enough for all of us."

They both glanced at each other before sitting down at the table. Judy heard the floorboards crack a little, opening a stream of dust visible in the lantern's light. She cupped her paws around her mouth to keep quiet.

Stu stared into Elizabeth's eyes. She stared right back with that sly, satisfied smile. "Now, I'm sure you've heard, the humans are having a bit of a tussle across the strait. They ran out of food. Now, this would normally be the perfect opportunity to intervene and even, potentially, annex their continent, but we find ourselves a little out-matched and out-gunned."

Stu and Bonnie remained silent. Elizabeth shook her head. "For being country folk, y'all really are a stiff bunch."

She sighed before resting her arm on the table. "Listen, I'm gonna give it to you straight – we need to protect and maintain the sovereignty of our great nation and secure the continued existence of the Supreme Leader. What we are doing is a defensive measure."

An silence hung in the air as Elizabeth peered outside for a moment. She returned to Stu and Bonnie. "Now, one of the driving issues in our nation is overpopulation – after all, half of the Humans want to invade and eat us. We have a population problem."

"Our resources and supplies are spread thinly across seven hundred million mammals, the vast majority of which are prey." Elizabeth continued. "So, the stem of this issue is fairly evident. Supreme Leader had an idea – one in ten prey mammals are born with defects and irregularities. Remove them from the equation and, not only are you controlling the booming population, you strengthen the genetic foundation of our species."

Stu finally spoke up. His voice was controlled, but serious. "So you think genocide is the answer?"

Elizabeth smirked and leaned in closer. "Yes, I know it is. And it is coming, whether you like it or not."

She then leaned back in her chair some. Stu and Bonnie watched as her eyes slowly move around the room. She peered into the kitchen for a moment before looking back at them. "You know, as I was talking, I couldn't help but notice how big and roomy this house is."

Stu's heart jumped. He maintained a stony face. "That's how they built them back in the day."

"That is true, but," Elizabeth continued. "while shitty, of course, this house is fairly new. Modern wiring, good insulation. Plus, your records indicate this house was built a little over a decade ago."

"Plus," she said. She tapped her boot on the floor. It made a loud, hollow sound. "there seems to be a basement in there."

Bonnie grip on Stu's paw tightened. He swallowed.

Elizabeth smirked. "It's almost as if you were lying about the kid thing."

Stu shot up from his seat. Elizabeth instinctively drew a pistol from her holster and pointed it at the couple. Stu froze as he stared down the muzzle. Elizabeth clicked her tongue. "You take one step towards me, and blow you, your wife, and your ten children in the basement to pieces. Sit down."

Stu cautiously sat down. Bonnie's face was becoming red. Elizabeth made a gesture with her free paw, signaling the soldiers that had been waiting outside. They filed into the house one be one. The small unit of three was composed of an assortment of predators – a bear, a coyote, and a leopard. All were armed, each wearing thick, modern body armor. Stu shook his head. He began to shout. "I've told you, there's no one here!"

"Where is the basement door?"

"There is no basement!"

Elizabeth fired a gun at the floor. Judy ducked as the bullet tore through a floorboard, striking a bale of hay near the center of the room. Her heart began to race as her siblings backed away from the hay bale. Elizabeth continued shouting. "Where!"

Stu struggled to speak. Elizabeth kept pressing. "I'm going to continue shooting through the floor until you tell me where the basement door is. Sooner or later, I've gotta hit something."

Stu let out a pained breath. He glanced at Bonnie for a moment before answering to the wolf. "Down that hall, first door on the right.

"See?" Elizabeth said, easing up. The soldiers stormed down the hallway before easily breaking through the door. "Simple as that."

Stu's breaths were long and heavy. The three waited patiently for a minute. Shrieking and screaming came from the floorboards. The soldiers soon emerged, corralling ten bunny children.

"Oh, God." Bonnie whimpered as they walked the children down the hall and into the dining room. One of the soldiers had his rifle trained on them at all times. One of them seemed to come up to Elizabeth. She thought for a moment. "Uh, against that wall there. Line 'em all up."

The soldiers quickly lined up the children against the wall in no particular order. Bonnie and Stu watched on helplessly. Judy noticed tears forming in her father's eyes – he never cried.

"Stu Hopps," Elizabeth said. "do you remember August fourth, way back in the Bloody Summer?"

"Please, don't do this." Stu pleaded, his throat tight. "They're just kids. They had no part in that."

"You covered your tracks pretty well, back when you and your gang firebombed that car." Elizabeth continued, ignoring him. "It's been, what, thirty years? We already had caught your little posse a few decades back – now we finally have you."

"Please."

Elizabeth stood up. She began pacing in circles. "We thought of executing your down in The Square, but even then, you'd die with dignity. No bunny should die with dignity, former Resistance members especially."

She paused and looked in Stu's teary eye. She smiled. "But, we do, after all, have to punish you in some way."

She looked at the children, all lined up against the wall. Most of them were less than half her height. They were all speechless. Elizabeth continued. "There's an element of The Culling that I forgot to mention – we're now introducing a strict one-child policy."

"It wasn't retroactive, of course, but..." she said, crouching down a little until was whispering directly into his ear. "there are always exceptions."

"Please," Stu pleaded. Bonnie cried into her paws. "I'm begging you. Take me, all the way to the city or Sahara or whatever. You can do whatever you want, just don't make them pay."

Elizabeth pulled out and backed away from the table. Her eyes looked over the children for a moment before finally landing on the eldest- Judy. "Her, she's safe. Go on over with your Mom and Pops."

Tears formed in Judy's eyes. She looked to her side. Sara stood there, blinking rapidly. Her younger siblings didn't even seem to know what was going on. She looked at the wolf. Elizabeth smiled. "Come on, kiddo."

Judy slowly walked towards her parents. She took a seat beside them, turning it so she faced her siblings.

The wolf smiled again before backing up some. She directed the soldiers. "Arnold, Joe, keep and eye on them. Jesse, you know what to do."

Judy watched as two of the soldiers pointed their weapons at Stu and Bonnie. "You don't move 'til we leave."

"Please, don't do this!" Stu said. The remaining soldier assumed a firing position in front of Judy's siblings. They were all locking hands. Only then did Sara seem to fully grasp what was going on."

"Their blood, your blood, will be on your hands Stu." Elizabeth said as Stu continued pleading. She turned back to the soldier. "Fire at will."

Jesse nodded. Sara let out a cry for help. "Daddy, please!"

The room erupted into automatic gunfire. Bonnie's screams and Stu's cries were drowned out by the rapid gunshots. Blood exploded all over the wall and carpet. Judy shut her teary eyes and covered her ears. Stu cried with Bonnie, her head sinking into his chest as tears rolled down the side of his face. Elizabeth stood still, unflinching as the bullets tore through the young children. Smoke poured from the rifle barrel and into the room. The smell of gunpowder burned their nostrils.

The shooting finally stopped. Bonnie let out a bloodcurdling cry as she crumpled to the floor. Stu soon followed her. Judy remained frozen, shocked and unwilling to look.

"My babies!" Bonnie cried. She dropped to her knees "You fucking animal!"

Stu cradled Cam's body in his arms. The child's head hung low and his legs were limp. Blood came from his chest and arm. Stu rocked back and forth, crying. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Elizabeth stood there. She gestured to her unit, prompting them to shuffle out of the household. "Let this be a reminder, Stu. This is on your hands."


Present Day

Without an lights, the alleyway was almost pitch black. Puddles of water were scattered across the old, cracking, black pavement. The smell, however, was worse. She recoiled in disgust as she continued down the narrow gap between apartment towers. Trash bags lined the crumbling brick walls. The bags were often cut open, spilling garbage and waste into the alley.

Judy gradually came to a stop as she rested against a green dumpster. It covered in grime. She quickly pulled her hands from the cold, wet metal, instead choosing to lean against the brick. It seemed to crumble upon her touching it. Her breathing was hard and fast.

There was a pain in her leg – she wasn't quite sure where. After she made the jump from her floor, she quickly dropped down a series of rails and tiny balconies. She must have hurt her leg during the final jump to the sidewalk. Only now she really feeling it.

Her heart pounded as she began to regain her breath. She glanced to the start of the alley. She could barely make out the road behind the clouds of mist, the lights from the streets just barely piercing through. She felt her body tense up as she heard a car pass by.

Judy quickly recalled everything that had happened. After dangerously scaling down the side of the apartment building, she darted down the sidewalk. The streets were almost entirely empty, but the soldiers weren't able to get down in time. She sprinted for several blocks before eventually turning into this random alleyway.

She sighed. They were almost certainly searching for her, going block-by-block, street-by-street. It was only a matter of time until they eventually would catch up with her. She had to leave the city as soon as possible, as while not attracting too much attention.

She shivered in the cold. She was wearing nothing but a thin, gray T-shirt and sleep bottoms – hardly suitable as winter clothing. In a crowd, she would stick out like a sore thumb. She swallowed before rubbing her leg again. Her bottoms were wet from running through the puddles. Her hocks were sore and red with pain. What she need was a shelter – a warm place to stay, at least for the night.

But where could she go?

Judy thought about it for a moment. Her friends from work were too far, at least too far of a distance to make on foot overnight. She find a kitchen and try to blend in, but the cameras would spot her immediately.

The cameras were virtually everywhere. They were in every house, they lined every street and avenue – some were even in the bushes, disguised as flowers or plants, and some were in the air, on the bottoms of planes or disguised as birds. There was almost certainly footage of her entering the alley. The only thing limiting the soldiers was accessing the captured footage in time. They could be reviewing it this very moment.

She couldn't completely trust her friends either. They could easily turn her in and be rewarded for the act – it had happened to some before. There was a reason Mimi trusted her the most, as opposed to the rest of her coworkers.

Judy froze for a second. "The flash drive."

She quickly dug into her shirt. It wasn't there. She checked around her bottoms. She found it sandwiched between her fur and her panty. It had probably slipped down there during her sprint. She fished it out and grasped it within her paw. Whatever was on there had to be worth it.

Her ear perked up. She looked around for a moment. It sounded like a vehicle had stopped somewhere in the distance. It was too dark for her to see anything.

The alleyway was suddenly flooded with light. Judy blocked it with her hand and squinted. There were two headlights down the alley, where the street began. Everything, every pebble, every piece of trash, every groove and indentation in the bricks cast a long shadow down the alley.

They had found her.

Judy quickly grabbed the flash drive from the ground and scrambled to her feet. She heard the vehicle's engine rumble before driving forward.

She snapped around and sprinted down the alley, away from the moving vehicle. She had a slight limp in her gait as she tore towards the opposite end. The sound of the vehicle echoed throughout the tall walls of the alley. Judy felt the ground vibrate beneath her. Trash bags were shaken off the tops of dumpsters and cans rolled around on the pavement.

Her shadow grew larger and larger as the vehicle approached. Judy glanced behind herself. The vehicle was, fairly clearly, an armored truck – evidently military.

As she looked back ahead, she felt her foot ram into a stray brick in the middle of the path. She tumbled to the pavement, the flash drive secure in her palm. "Fuckin'..." she muttered, slowly standing back up.

She looked back again. The truck was quickly catching up. She tried to run, but the pain in her hock was too great. She couldn't outrun the vehicle – not like this.

She noticed a door just a little ways ahead. She hadn't been able to see it in the darkness earlier. She gritted her teeth as she mustered through the pain, limping towards the door.

Judy glanced behind her again. The truck accelerated. She turned back and limped faster towards the door. She almost tripped again as she approached the door. She looked back one final time before pushing the door open.

She entered the building, quickly slamming the door behind her. She fell back to the floor – cold, gray tile – panting and breathing quickly. She gripped her hock for a moment and winced. It was wet and throbbing. She must have messed up her ankle or broke a bone.

She looked back at the door and smiled a little. She was lucky it was unlocked.

She heard the muffled sound of the truck driving by. The sound continued down the alley until stopping. The engine ran idly. She heard several car doors open and shut. They would storm the building if they had to.

Judy slowly got to her feet. She use the wall to regain her balance. She quickly examined her surroundings. She was in some kind of kitchen, not unlike the one in her apartment building. She thought for a moment. "Well, my old apartment building."

The floor was covered in white, cracked tile, stained and worn from years of use. The room was lined with rusted ovens and shambling carts. There were boxes of dried food left out in the corner of the room. Pots and pans hung from racks installed in the ceiling. The only illumination in the room was from a few dim, blue lights embedded in a refrigerator, casting the whole room in blue.

Judy limped down the kitchen and through a door, entering the cafeteria. The layout here was identical to her old cafeteria. She continued down the cold, hardwood floor and towards the stairs. Clutching her leg, she let out a little sigh she walked upwards. The carpet felt nice against her sore, bare hocks.

She heard the door into the kitchen open and close. She looked back for a moment. Flashlights danced all over the floor and walls. There were three soldiers, each slowly and tactically making their way through the kitchen. All of them were heavily armed.

She turned away and continued up the stairs until one of them spoke. His voice was loud and booming, echoing through the cafeteria. "Hopps! You're surrounded. If you don't willingly surrender, we will kill you."

Judy remained frozen for a moment. She heard the sounds of their boots growing closer.

"Come on out, little rabbit." another one of them said. His voice was in a sing-song tone. "We want to play."

Judy quickly started back up the stairs. She mustered through the throbbing pain as she slowly ascended the building. Not long after, Judy heard the sound of footsteps below her. They were catching up.

She used the cracked, peeling surfaces of the walls to guide her in the darkness. There were ten flights of stairs in the building – she estimated she was nearing the top.

As she reached the top floor, she paused for a brief moment. She peered down the stairwell. Flashlights bobbed up and down, back and forth beneath her. Judy quickly snapped around. Where could she go next?

Most buildings did have, typically, an emergency exit to the roof. She struggled to recall as to whether or not her apartment had the same.

The footsteps were rapidly approaching. She thought for a moment before breaking into a sprint towards a door on the far end of the hall. She let out a breath and glanced behind her again. The footsteps grew nearer.

She pressed all of her weight against the door. It was heavy – clearly not designed for a bunny in mind. She continued pushing, her teeth gritted and grunting. She heard a voice behind her. "There she is!"

The door gave way, causing Judy to tumble out onto the roof. The cold hit her instantly as she struggled to get to her feet. There was another set of stairs in front of her, turning and leading to the main roof. Using all the strength she had, she managed to stand to her feet. A splitting pain ran down her leg. It was probably fractured.

She limped up the stairs and onto the rest of the roof. She quickly took cover behind an old air-conditioning unit, sitting against it. Her heart jumped as she heard the soldiers push the door open. "Fuck, it's freezing."

She could make out their shadows in the pale moonlight. They cautiously made their way up the stairs, their weapons at the ready. "Come on out, bunny. You can't hide out forever, you know!"

Judy let out a pained breath as she caressed her leg. There was no place to run – nowhere to go. This could be it.

Her thoughts began to change. What would her parents think? Their last, remaining child, executed in The Square at midnight after being caught in a foot-chase on a particularly cold night. They would have no one left but themselves.

She looked out at the city. It was beautiful tonight. The sky was, for once, somewhat clear. She could make out the towering buildings downtown and their bright lights. They seemed to twinkle from here.

Her ear shot up as she heard something zip across the sky. There was clang somewhere around the edge of the roof. Even the soldiers seemed confused. "What the hell was that?"

Suppressed gunfire erupted on the roof. Judy heard a soldier scream for a brief moment before ending abruptly. Judy's breathing began to slow. She couldn't hear any footsteps. She peered around the corner of the A/C unit.

There were three bodies – a fox, a panther, and a wolf – all of them crumpled and lifeless on the ground. Their blood poured out, soaking their clothing and the gravel with blood. Their eyes were half-open, dead and unmoving.

A creature stepped into the picture, standing over the bodies. It was tall, taller than even the panther. It stood on two long legs. It was tall – easily four or five times her height. Its arms came down to its waist. It held a rifle in one arm – a kind she hadn't seen before. Its body was covered in black military gear and armor, blending in with the night, and two objects protruded from its headwear.

Judy snapped back into cover. It was a Human.

She heard a voice. It was a male and it spoke her language. "You can come out now, you know. I'm here."

Judy hesitated. She had no reason to trust him.

The Human let out a sigh. There was a hint of exasperation in his words. "Come on out, we don't have all night."

She slowly stood up from behind the A/C unit. The cold, freezing wind was blowing hard now. She shivered as she stepped into the open. All of her fur stood on edge beneath her thin shirt. The Human was still. She finally spoke up. "Who are you?"

"I can't tell you right now," the Human answered. "but I know you're Judith Hopps. I'm from across the strait."

She paused for a moment. "How do you know my name?" Judy questioned, standing her ground.

The Human looked down and chuckled. He pulled up his goggles to his forehead, revealing his eyes. They were blue and seemed to sparkle in the pale moonlight. "Come with me, I'll tell you on the way."