CHAPTER 7
(Part of a double upload, please enjoy ad leave a review if you liked it.)
More terrorists came to the building from the south side entrance, and Nick was in shock. As Lucky began to put barricades up again the door, Nick jumped up and began tearing down everything.
"Nick, what the hell are you doing?!" Lucky screamed.
"Judy's out there! I need to go get her!"
Lucky threw him to the side by his shoulder.
"She's dead, Nick! There's nothing you can do to save her!"
"She's outside in the hallway!" He yelled, "We need to let her in!"
Lucky attempted to restrain him from leaving, but Nick was able to slip out of his grip, and run to the door, throw it open, and see Judy standing there, completely relaxed with a grin. Nick was in shock and fear, noticing how she looked.
Her shirt was torn to bits, barely covering her chest, and shorts were covered in holes. The gunshot she sustained was still on her neck, but an exit wound was found on the underside of her left arm. She had a stance of carelessness and an attitude to match. Nick shook his head and dragged her by her arm into the room, and Lucky glared at Nick. After helping him board up the door with furniture, Judy stood with her arms crossed in the back as Nick walked up slowly and kneeling in front of her. He held his hands together, trying to comprehend the fact that Judy was alive and well in front of his own eyes.
"You're… You're alive." He whimpered.
Judy nodded, putting her hands to her side.
"H-how?" He squeaked.
She sighed and took a breath, ready to explain.
"The bullet went through me, nothing major was injured."
Nick leaned in for a hug, but Judy stopped him. She then became angry.
"Why the hell did you leave me behind."
Nick was on the verge of tears now, unsure of how to reply. He wanted to tell her everything; how he was able to find her, why it took him so long to find her, why he didn't bring her back when the explosives went off. All he could do was sit there, kneeling in sorry as he tried not to cry.
"Why Nick!" She yelled. And Tigress spoke up.
"We would have died in the process."
She glared at Tigress with flaring eyes. Nick choked out a sentence.
"I thought you were dead…"
She looked back at Nick, now with a look of surprise.
"I thought, you were done for. I thought i lost you for good, Judy. I was so empty that moment in time, i didn't know what to do. Please…"
He began to cry. Reaching for her hands, he held them softly and spoke through tears.
"Please. Forgive me. I made a promise to you after your funeral for cripes sake!"
Judy could have sworn Nick's eyes glowed like emeralds, and she began to tear up herself.
"What promise." She said through a breaking voice.
He was now sobbing heavily as he spoke.
"I was gonna make this world a better place."
She broke down to her knees and went in for a hug. Both of them holding each other close. Nick felt something within his heart repair, and Judy felt like a jerk for talking to him that way. After a few tears were exchanged, Tigress spoke up.
"Guys, i hate to break your reunion, but we have targets inbound-"
The wall was riddled with bullets as everybody ducked for cover. Judy was being held tightly by Nick, who was way too afraid to let her go. They covered behind the couch with the family of raccoons, while Lucky began shooting rounds back into the wall, hearing targets howl in pain.
"Target down!" He screamed, reloading his weapon.
Tigress looked at Nick, who was focused on the point of retaliation.
"Get them out of here! We'll cover you!"
Nick shook his head as she growled and shot rounds back.
"Not until i know everybody makes it out safe!"
"Just call Bogo for a catcher! We'll follow you guys once it gets over here!"
Nick reluctantly agreed as he called the squadcars down below.
"We need a catcher on the North-West window ASAP!"
Radio chatter could be heard for a moment, and almost immediately, Bogo was heard.
"Come on down! Send them one by one!"
Nick signaled the family to jump down through the window one by one, and with the father noticing the 30 foot fall, he was terrified of the idea. Thanks to his wife though, she convinced him to send the kids one by one. So over the span of three minutes, all five family members made it down safely. Judy then went next slowly, with Nick behind her. After Judy jumped down, Nick called out to Tigress and Lucky over the gunfire.
"Come on! It's good to go!"
Tigress nodded and climbed through the window, falling into the netting that was at the bottom. Lucky was reluctant to leave though.
"Come on!" Nick yelled through the loud noise of drywall ripping.
Lucky looked back at Nick after reloading.
"I'll cover you, just go!"
Nick really did not want to leave Lucky behind, because of his promise to bring everybody home safe, but because he was his commanding officer, he was forced to do what he was told. He slowly climbed out to the windows ledge, but before jumping, he looked at the doorway being shot through, and something forced him to scream before he jumped.
A grenade, rolling out from behind Lucky.
Nick screamed in fear the whole way down, and when he was caught, he climbed out of the net, and screamed.
"LUCKY!"
An explosion was seen from the window, and In an extremely close call, he was seen thrown out of the window, falling onto the net that was barely set up for another person. Landing motionless, The net was ayed down as several officers pointed weapons at the building, and Barrier could be heard firing shots through windows. Lucky was carried to a line of police cruisers covering them. He woke as they laid him down.
"Told you i was called lucky for a reason." He spoke as he sat up, coughing. All Nick could do was smile, then laugh at his incredible feature. But his mind clicked into gear, and Nick immediately turned to Judy, who was sitting on the seat of a paramedic cab, looking down in sorrow. Her neck was patched up, and she was covered by a blanket because of her clothing. Nick kneeled down in front of her with a straight face, and her eyes lit up along her smile.
"I'm glad you made it…" She spoke softly.
"Yeah." He answered with a small grin. "I'm glad too."
Eventually, several terrorists were taken out, while the rest, around fifteen, were arrested and jailed. Bogo then walked up to the two, sitting next to one another.
"It's good to see you, Officer Hopps."
She gave a smile and nodded, while Nick was asked a different question.
"So what was the cause of the event, Wilde?"
Nick stood up and saluted, answering.
"We couldn't find any leads, chief. We were focused on just getting the family to safety."
Bogo was irritated, but Nick continued to speak.
"I believe you have the roles switched as well. Police are supposed to investigate. All we do is secure the safety of those in danger."
Bogo really wanted to say something, but he just had growled, then walked off. Nick sat back down, and sighed deeply.
"I don't think i'll be with the ZPD for a while…"
Judy looked in worry for an answer.
"What for?"
Nick thought.
"The idea of losing you, the stress of failing. I just need a break from everything, that's all."
Judy looked down and nodded, then came up with an idea.
"Why don't we head home, help you relax and all. I think we both need it, honestly."
Nick chuckled and nodded, standing up. Lucky walked up to them when he didn't notice, and he immediately saluted. Lucky spoke.
"At ease, Nick. I just wanted to say that you should take the week off. You've been through alot, and i can see you care alot about her."
Nick looked back at Judy, who gave a smile. He looked back at Lucky, nodded, and gave him a handshake.
"Thank you sir. It means alot to me."
He smiled, patted him on the shoulder, then walked away. Nick walked back to Judy, sitting down to wait for her.
"My place is not being paid for anymore, is it?" Judy spoke.
Nick shrugged.
"Not sure. But it's only been a little under a month, you still might have it."
"My uniform?" She asked.
"With your parents."
They stayed silent as they watched the terrorists exit the building handcuffed, and Nick had a question.
"How did you know where we were?"
She was quiet for a moment, then looked at Nick with a shrug.
"I wanted to see if i could find you and tell you i was okay… I didn't really know you were on the job, i had just entered through the backdoor, which i had assumed you had used."
Nick thought, and asked another question.
"Where had you been for the past two weeks?"
She explained in a solemn tone.
"I went into hiding with Duke… The guy we caught after finding Mr. Big?"
Nick nodded.
"He had a great hiding spot underneath the subway, and i figured i would hang with him. Plus i only went because i needed to heal."
She waved at her neck wound. Nick looked away out of respect. He then sighed, stood up and held his hand out.
"Let's get you home. Clean you up. Make you feel welcome again."
She took his hand, smiled, and they took a cruiser home to Judy's small apartment. Nick still had her key, and opened the door for her, showing that her portrait of her parents were gone. Her clothes in her dresser were still there, and her uniform was with her parents, but she knew she could go and get those the next day.