Chapter 4

Inside one of the patient's rooms within St. Francis' Hospital in Zootopia, a huge heap of muscle laid under the sheets. In front of his bed, there stood two police lieutenants. One of them, a silver fox, wore a raincoat over a green Hawaiian shirt and purple tie, looking as if he just got out of bed. The other officer, a female rabbit, was all decked out in a fancy velvet gown and Swineovski crystal jewelry. Both her and the fox gazed at the animal before them in great concern. It was late evening, and a thunderstorm raged outside of the window.

Bogo was pretty much alive, however. Lying on his belly, he groaned and grunted, his bloodshot eyes indicating that the wounds he received while off shopping with his wife had only made him angry. The 9 mm rounds fired by his would-be assassin were not able to penetrate through the thick hide and muscles on the buffalo's back, but still left the police chief with several deep bullet holes, including one in his buttock.

The killer, as in the case of the Horne County Sherriff, vanished into thin air.

Grinding his teeth in pain, Bogo lifted himself up from the mattress as if making a push-up, turning his head in order to look at his subordinates.

"Hopps!" he yelled, making her flinch. "Why're you wearing that… costume?"

"I-I had to get out of a date to get here… sir," she confessed awkwardly.

"And where was the date? At the bloody Marmot, or something?!" the buffalo roared, and then immediately relented. He wasn't mad at her, after all. "Sorry about that. As you can see, I am slightly debilitated."

He then gazed at both of the lieutenants.

"From now on," Bogo ordered seriously, "all ZPD officers are to wear bullet-proof vests at all times! I don't care if you're off duty, or going on a date. If anyone wants to take a shower, I want him to do so under 15 layers of Kevlar! Did I make myself clear?!"

"Yessir," Judy and Nick responded simultaneously.

"Good," he continued. "Now, as for you two, I'm giving you full faculties, and putting you in charge of the carnivore investigation until I get out of the hospital. By which time I expect the case to be solved. You are dismissed."

The buffalo then sighed, and put his head comfortably on the pillow.

The duo of lieutenants were not as relaxed as him, however…

"Uh… excuse me?" Nick gasped, completely surprised by the assignment he and his partner had just received.

Bogo looked at him angrily, unhappy about having to turn his head again.

"Are you drunk, Wilde?" he erupted. "Haven't you heard what I just said? Are you my lieutenants, or are you not?! I can't take care of catching flesh-eaters anymore, nor look for the fool who tried to kill me. I'd love to, but I can't! That's your job now, so I suggest you get to it!"

The chief turned his face to the wall with another painful groan, and said nothing more. Nick and Judy shared an anxious look… and then just walked out of the room.

They both greeted the female wild boar officer who stood guard in front of Bogo's door, wielding a shotgun, and then halted in the hospital corridor. The fox exhaled heavily, putting his paws on his hipps.

"Ehh… and this was supposed to be a restful Sunday…" he complained.

"Yeah…" his partner answered him bitterly, hanging her head.

"You know, you do look good in that dress," Nick then attempted to cheer her up. "Did Jack really manage to get reservations at the Marmot?"

"Yes, he did," Judy confirmed.

"Wow, you're lucky. Then again, you do carry two rabbit's feet with you all the time... I see you even got a pedicure."

"Too bad Chief Bogo isn't as lucky. But wait a minute!"

Suddenly remembering about the whole date situation, she quickly grabbed her phone and dialed her boyfriend's number.

But the phone just kept ringing and ringing…

Looking at the devastated rabbit in sadness and compassion, the male officer eventually came up to her, and laid his paw on her shoulder. Judy put her phone away in resignation, and embraced him.

"You know, we can still go out for a drink, if you want to," he suggested. "I can't afford to take you back to the Marmot, but…"

"No," Judy cut him off, suddenly letting go of him. "I can't. Yasseck wouldn't like that… And besides, I think you've had enough to drink tonight already."

Nick looked at her, embarrassed… and then hopelessly attempted to tame the torn hair on his head.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I better get a cab and just go to sleep..."

"See you tomorrow, then," Judy said to him unenthusiastically.

"Mhm…" he mumbled back before leaving.

The situation was crappy. For both of them. Not only were they now responsible for taking care of the toughest crisis Zootopia's been going through in a long time, but also their private lives weren't exactly sunny, either.

Nick experienced that even harder when, sitting on the back seat of a taxi, he tried to call his own significant other. She too did not answer the phone, as she'd done for over a week…

And with each passing day, the fox felt as if he was becoming a little more dead.

"Goddamit…" Nick mumbled to himself, switching off his phone. He noticed that by now he'd made a deep gash on the LCD screen with the claw of his thumb.

The next day, him and Judy, both sober and in uniform, stood before all of their fellow officers in the briefing room of the police station for the first time in their lives.

For starters, the rabbit lieutenant explained to everyone that Chief Bogo's life was not in danger, and that it was his decision to put her and her partner in charge of the carnivore case. After the ensuing commotion subsided, she also revealed to them the buffalo's order about wearing ballistic vests at all times, in case such assassination attempts were to happen again.

Then, it was Nick's time to speak. Standing in front of the pulpit, carrying a bunch of files in his paws and gazing at them closely, he began:

"Okay. So, who's in charge of looking for the guy who shot Bogo again?"

He raised his head, and saw one of the elephant officers lifting her trunk.

"Francine? Right, you take care of that, then. As for the rest of you, please report to the quartermaster to receive your vests… and carry on with your work."

All of the gathered cops nodded and, forming a real stampede, raced out of the room, leaving Nick and Judy alone.

"Well, that was easier than I thought…" the fox said to himself.

But immediately afterwards, he noticed that, for some reason, his partner was staring at him. And she was not happy.

"What… the hell… was that?!" the rabbit growled furiously, in a manner that was completely unusual for her. She was clenching her fists, and looked as if she wanted to punch Nick in the nose.

"Erm, what was what?" he asked as he collected his files, confused. "What do you mean, Carrots?"

The female then came up to him, swung her paw… and knocked the papers out of his grasp. Nick observed in shock as the documents hit the floor.

"Jeez, what's the matter with you…?" he stood away, fearing she was really about to attack him.

Judy, however, tapping the floor with her foot in rage, only pointed her finger at him.

"Carry on with your work? You call that a briefing?" she thundered, her eyes shooting out flames.

"Uh, Carrots, everyone pretty much knows what their duties are…" the fox attempted to mumble in response. But she interrupted him.

"Do they?! Do you still think so? Nick, there's carnivores shooting cops in the streets! And haven't you noticed all the protesters while driving to work today? This city is in chaos, and if we want to change that, we've got to do something! We can't just let everyone carry on with their work!"

The fox narrowed his eyes…

"Let me guess… Jack still doesn't answer your calls, does he?"

Now that question almost made the female explode with anger.

"ERRR! What does that have to do with anything?!"

As well as I can see, everything… he thought. But that was not what he said.

"Fine," the fox shrugged finally, crouching to pick up the papers. "You take care of the investigation, then. Maybe you'll do a better job working alone."

"Nick… Nick! Don't be like that! C'mon, where're you going?" yelped the rabbit, her anger turning to sorrow.

"I'm going to get my vest," he mumbled casually, already at the door. "And then, I'll try to catch some carnivores."

Left alone in the briefing room, Judy sighed bitterly… But a moment later, a look of determination appeared on her face.

"Aright. Be that way!" she said to herself. "I am a ZPD lieutenant, and I will do my job as best as I can!"

Twenty-four hours later, the bullpen was filled with animals again. The only missing officer was lieutenant Nicholas Wilde. Lieutenant Hopps, however, was at her spot by the pulpit, wearing a bullet-proof vest, and carrying a whole load of files.

"Okay, settle down, everyone!" she said to her underlings as soon as the clock showed nine AM. Then, she cleared her throat. "I can see that all of you are wearing ballistic protection. That's good. I understand you know what Chief Bogo's assassination attempt means to every officer in Zootopia. But that also means that all Zootopians, and especially prey animals, are now in the state of great peril. I am sad to observe that our efforts, until now, have been insufficient. I remind you that no carnivores have been caught since early November, and that has made society become terrified, and lose hope in this city's law enforcement. But I'm planning on changing that! We will stop those flesh-eaters, and I am going to lead this case to a close, even if it's the last thing you do!"

By the end of the monologue, the rabbit was basically screaming. When she was done, her fellow officers, completely dumbstruck, gazed at her in silence…

Lieutenant Hopps eyed them all back with a demanding stare. And then she began speaking again.

"I want each one of you to deliver to me a full report of your respective investigations. You have time until tomorrow," she stated.

Suddenly, she noticed somebody in the back row lifting a paw.

"Yes, Fangmeyer?" the female groaned in exasperation.

"Uh, ma'am?" the tiger began cockily. He'd obviously been in the force for much longer than Judy, and wasn't too impressed by her distributing orders. "What exactly do you mean by full report of your respective investigations?"

But lieutenant Hopps did not like the sneer on the Fangmeyer's face. She didn't like it at all. Leaving her files at the pulpit, she hopped to the floor, and marched straight through the center of the room, making all other officers turn around in shock. She then jumped up again, landing on the feline's desk, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Zootopia Police Code, Section 38 F, paragraphs 1-3. On how to present an investigation report before a superior," she screamed in his face. "In case you forgot."

She then noticed that, due to the tiger's large size, his bullet-proof vest wasn't put on properly.

"And fasten those darn straps! Uh, what is wrong with you people?!" the furious rabbit yelled before returning to the front of the room.

Fangmeyer sent a communicative stare to Delgato, his colleague who sat beside him...

"Probably in heat," whispered the lion.

"Uh... rabbits are always in heat," answered the tiger. "That's why they breed so fast."

"Oh. I didn't realize that," the astonished Delgato confessed. And then he sighed: "Woe is us..."

When Judy finally got back to her apartment, it was already late at night. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally. The first thing she did was taking off her ballistic vest, and throwing it to the floor. Then, lying on her bed, she tried calling Yasseck again.

And again, he didn't answer.

Letting out a deep groan, she decided to call her parents instead and ease her pain by talking the night away with them.

Her mother was the only one to answer, however.

"Hey, Judy," mumbled the sleepy old rabbit, already in her night gown. "What's the matter? Why're you calling so late?"

"Uhh… It's nothing. Just a very long day at work. Plus, I got some trouble with my boyfriend…"

She wasn't able to finish, as the sounds of a violent argument reached her from behind the wall. Completely distracted, she couldn't even get her thoughts together.

"Shut the hell up!" she yelled, knocking on the wall with her fist.

"Judy!" Mrs. Hopps gasped in shock. "What's going on over there?"

"Oh nothing. It's just my stupid neighbors…" she uttered angrily, embarrassed by the fact that she let her mother see her outburst. "I'll call you back in a minute."

The two bovids were quite surprised when someone knocked their door open, shattering the lock. Seeing the rabbit cop standing on the threshold, they froze, grasping the items they were about to throw at eachother during another one of their many fights.

Judy walked over to the stupefied couple with a ticket form and a pen.

"Bucky and Pronk Oryx-Antlerson," she read aloud what she was writing down. "Public disturbance after 10 PM, after a fair warning. That'll be a fine of 80 dollars per capita."

Approaching them, the jumped, and stuck both tickets on each of the animals' horns. She then said:

"If you have a grievance, you may contest your citation in civil court. Have a good night."

In the meantime, in another part of Zootopia, lieutenant Wilde was sitting in his rented grey Wolfswagen, smoking and listening to the rain drumming against the windshield. Since yesterday, he'd been driving around town undercover, visiting the shady dens which were known to him, looking for clues. But as of yet, his paws were empty.

Once again, shaking in anticipation, he decided to reach for his phone. And, once again, he hesitantly dialed the number which was written in under the false name 'Mrs. Gekker."

But the phone only continued to ring unanswered, and each signal was like a new needle that pierced his heart...

Finally, he cast his phone to the back seat, turned on the radio, and clasped the steering wheel, exhaling heavily and grinding his fangs.

Unfortunately, the song which the radio played wasn't necessarily joyful… And the dreary lyrics corresponded perfectly with what was going on inside of his own soul.

Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me, Oh and I rush to the start

Running in circles, chasing our tails, Coming back as we are.

Nobody said it was easy, It's such a shame for us to part

Nobody said it was easy, No one ever said it would be this hard.

Oh let's go back to the start.

He felt the warmth of tears flowing down his cheeks...

"Why won't you answer?!" he growled, sobbing.

And then, with a loud yell, he began banging his head against the driving wheel, rapt in fury and despair.

"WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER?!" a scream issued from his mouth so loud that it could have awaken a corpse.

After regaining control over himself, touching his forehead, the fox noticed that he was bleeding. Cursing under his breath, he popped another Carnisol pill in his mouth, reached out to grab his phone again and, smearing the screen with his blood, wrote and sent a text message that read:

You are torturing me.

AN: The song for this chapter is Coldplay's The Scientist, obviously.

Poor Nick and Judy... Their tough personal struggles are deffinitely not helping them in their difficult work. Yasseck may have been rough around the edges, but Judy feels very lonely without him. And that's causing her to become frustrated.

What about Nick, however? Well, according to the timeline of the movie and the first story, he is now 36 years old. Obviously, he's looking for a stable relationship. Something appears to have gone wrong, however... What was it tho, and who is this 'Mrs. Gekker'? Stay tuned to find out.