Panic ensued inside the building. Frantic shouting and loud gunshots could be heard through the infirmary walls. A group of four, maybe five, had entered the ZPD and opened fire upon the few officers that remained inside its safe walls. Not anymore that was. Judy, Nick and the deer burst into panic.

"What was that?" Judy shouted in terror, when she heard the continuous gunshots ring through the building. She started to shiver, and her nose twitched quite obviously, far beyond afraid.

"You guys need to leave, NOW!" the deer shouted in a frantic tone, making sure they absolutely got the message of grave danger.

"My shoulder is busted! Not even mentioning, how the hell do we escape?!" Nick yelled back, feeling his fur stand up in knowledge of the dire circumstances taking hold. He looked at Judy, who was stunned in fear, her paw still resting on his. He then looked up at the deer, who watched the door carefully with a stern, but nervous face. She pointed towards a small window at the other side of the room. This was their chance.

"That window is our only chance, we take it or we die Nick" the deer replied, looking him dead in the eyes, "Get up before it's too late."

Nick obeyed. Judy came to her senses and helped Nick out of the bed. He painfully, but hastily made it out of that comfortable prison and placed his feet on the cold tile floor. Judy wrapped her arm around him once again, preparing for another struggle, but Nick seemed to walk just fine. He made his way over to the window with decent speed for his injuries. The window was a little taller than he was which required him to reach up to get to it. He swiftly opened the cold metal frame by twisting a small tab on it, and pushed it outwards, exposing the room to the cold, stormy air. He then kneeled down behind the wall below it, feeling the hard tile firmly press against his still weakened legs. Nick placed his paws on his other knee, and motioned for Judy to climb up and out the window. Judy silently obeyed, as she walked towards him, placed her foot on his paws and boosted herself up and out the window. Now it was Nick's turn. Quickly, he looked back to see the deer lock the infirmary door and hastily make her way towards the window, in hopes to escape. Nick Jumped up onto the window frame, forgetting about his damaged shoulder as he attempted to use it to hoist himself up and over. It was no use. The deer came to help him, but it was too late. The intruders banged on the locked door, demanding entry either by acceptance or through force.

"Open up in there! Give us all your shit and we'll leave, got it?" The angry assailant claimed. He was clearly lying, but continued to bash on the door. The deer helped Nick up and onto the window frame, just before the mammal shot the lock off the door, and begun to open it. The last Nick saw, was the deer attempting to climb after Nick, but knowing it was no use, she heroically held the criminal off, running and bashing her whole body into the slowly opening door, closing it shut. She looked back, and simply nodded, tears in her eyes. Nick had no choice, but to drop onto the street with Judy.

"Nick, where's the deer?" Judy asked, a concerned look plastered across her face.

"We have to go! Follow me" Nick commanded, avoiding her questions, and possibly many more she had. Nick started a sprint across the street behind the ZPD. There were no cars to be seen. Nick kept sprinting as far as he could. Judy was forced to follow close behind. As they ran through the ghostly streets of Zootopia, they both heard 3 more shots echo off the buildings, followed up by another. Nick and Judy kept running, knowing the deer was gone, and there was no longer anywhere to hide. All they could do was run.

As the sun began to peek from around the clouds, the rain ceased to fall. The looming clouds floated away as if they had other people to mess with. The streets lay empty, and the sun had begun to bake the black asphalt that covered the roads. Nick and Judy, finally came to a stop at a small apartment near Nick's. Taking a seat on the slowly warming concrete outside the apartment, the two coughed and wheezed their way through a conversation.

"She… couldn't make it. They shot… the lock off… the door. She held them…. Back. She saved us" Nick pushed, still panting heavily from the sprint. Judy lay beside him, leaning on him and breathing just as heavy.

"She's a hero, and we… will remember her as that" Judy replied, hastily. She wanted to forget about all of this, but she couldn't. That deer was so kind to them and the love they shared. Now she was gone. She symbolized a last sign of hope for the diverse and accepting Zootopia to continue on after its fall. Not mentioning, they no longer have a way out.

"Nick… i'm so sorry. This isn't what you deserve. What we deserve. There is no way out of this crisis. The pandemic is coming, and lives will be lost. I just couldn't live with myself if one of those lives were yours" Judy explained to Nick, catching her breath, but still leaning into Nick's side out of exhaustion.

"No one deserves anything Carrots. I got lucky with you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Before the Night Howlers, i was no one. I just wanted to live and die, satisfied with myself and no one else. That flawless luck, is running out. Guess it just came sooner than we had hoped. You're the last relic of that golden age in my life, and i know as long as we can keep each other alive, it'll find it's way" Nick stated boldly, looking at the small bunny, seeming to be in shock by his words.

"I knew you had a way with words Nick, but i had no idea you were a poet at heart" She said with a little giggle, attempting to lighten the mood. Gladly it worked. Although they both knew of the horrible world they were plunging into, they both softly chuckled in each other's company. The world they had knew for years of their lives may have been crumbling, but there was a new one that just begun not long before the collapse. One that was devoid of all circumstances. One of love.

Nick eventually picked himself up off the heated concrete and assisted Judy in doing the same. They slowly walked through the empty streets and took in their surrounding side by side. Roadside shops and establishments were charred by what was evidently, rioting. Shards of glass lay scattered on the sidewalk, and street. They even walked past an overturned, wolf size car that has lost a wheel in its demise somehow. The city was a mess, an this time there were no clean up crews to magically fix everything back to normal. The innocent people were gone, or dead. The lucky that were to escape the grasp of anarchy, fled to a place outside the city that Nick and Judy had theorized to be a refugee camp like area, while they walked. Street lights still flickered with their usual colors. Nick chuckled at the electricity still being on, only to be interupted of the thought as to why. They walked silently for a while until they arrived at the front door of Nick's apartment.

Slowly opening the locked door, Nick yelled. "Ms Ikeda? You still here? Anyone?" Hoping to draw out any remaining citizens.

"Who's Ms Ikeda?" Judy whispered as Nick opened the glass door further and began his trek inside. She stayed close behind.

"She owned the place. My landlord" Nick said louder into the lobby. The lights remained off, but the natural light from the sun shone in, giving Nick enough to see the room clearly. Once they made it to the middle of the lobby, Nick let his guard down. "Alright, I think we're good."

"Good. Im guessing we should take the stairs then?" She said innocently, as Nick instinctively walked towards the elevator, but without looking back at the clever bunny's advice, he pointed at the stairwell and begun to steer his way towards it. Judy giggled.

"We shouldn't be taking a few street lights being on, as the whole grid being on, your right." He admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed at his mess up. Judy nodded, as he opened the metal door that led to the stairwell. Nick made his way up them with no rush, his legs feeling weaker and weaker with every step. That run had really drained him.

They finally arrived at Nick's floor and opened the second door, leading them into a long, dark hallway. Nick took the lead as he walked in front of Judy towards his apartment door. Judy already knew where it was, since she had been here many times before, but had no reason to contest. She noticed the walls to this hallway looking particularly dreary, compared to her own tiny abode which was far from luxury itself. Thinking of it, she was actually going to help Nick look for a better place that weekend. Guess that plan crashed and burned.

They arrived at his door. Nick searched his pockets for his keys while Judy took a few steps away, waiting for that glorious click of the lock unlatching, and the iconic creek of old wood as it opened. To her surprise, none of that occurred.

"Damnit!" Nick shouted in anger as he pounded his head into the door, his long furry ears moving back to avoid damage. "I left in such a hurry this morning that i forgot my damn keys!" Nick was beyond frustrated. So much so, that he hadn't realised the obvious. Judy opened a small zipped pocket on her utility belt and pulled out a shiny new key. She walked towards the door, Nick's head still leaning on the door with his eyes closed.

"Nick it's okay! You made me a copy of your key, remember?" She said, standing beside him, waving the key in plain sight. Nick opened one eye in surprise to see the beautify key in her fluffy hands.

"Oh! Yeah i forgot about that!" He laughed as he backed away from the door and rubbed his neck in embarrassment. He watched as Judy inserted the key into the door handle, turned it and opened the door open with a shove. It creaked it pleasantly as it opened.

"To think, I was gonna get that fixed" Nick said, regarding the creak that he now adored. Judy walked in first to a dark apartment, light by dim amounts of natural light. The coffee table still had the discarded cup of coffee on it. As Nick walked in behind Judy, who immediately made her way to the bathroom, it reminded Nick of this morning. How much has happened in only seven hours. Nick walked towards the couch and sat in it, feeling his legs ease in pain as the cushion sagged. Judy turned the tap on and begun to wash her paws from dirt and grime, but she could only do so for a few seconds, as the water supply ran short and dry. She groaned. Zootopia was the law of the jungle now. She used a towel to clean up what she could and walked back to the living room.

"Chief Bogo said 9:30 PM is when the main trains leave to evacuate all remaining dispatches, right?" Judy hesitantly said as she took a seat beside Nick.

"Yup. We still have…" He quickly glanced at his clock, which wasn't working, "I'd say maybe 8 hours."

"Good" Judy sighed. "I hope you don't mind if we just stay here until then" She continued, slowly shifting towards Nick, looking to find a good spot to burrow into him.

"I wouldn't dream of contesting" Nick said, smiling at the tired looking bunny. It had been a lot for both of them. "You can take my bed if you want. It's relatively clean and safe, as far as i know."

Judy looked up at Nick, being this generous in his case was rare. He would usually try to pull some move to get her into his bed, which was usually just him joking around, but this was genuine. Despite his injuries, he would rather have Judy sleep, than him get much greater needed rest. There was, of course, a consensus that Judy didn't mind.

"We could always… sleep together?" Judy replied, giving him the most adorable face she could muster with her current energy.

"I was hoping you would say that." Nick smiled back at her in a way that made her feel like all Nick wanted this time, was someone to be with. He wasn't screwing around. No jokes. This meant a lot to both of them.

Nick got up off the couch first, Judy almost falling over at the sudden movement of her pillow. Nick just looked down at her and smiled. He walked over to the door and locked it, three times. This place was trashy, but damn secure. He walked by the couch and down the narrow hallway, taking a left into his bedroom. Judy followed after him. In his room, Nick was in the process of taking off his belt and light body armor. Then proceeding to remove his tie and throw it in a pile with the rest of the equipment. Judy studied him and once he was finished, he motioned towards the empty bed.

"She's all yours Carrots" Nick said playfully. The bed wasn't massive, but it was much larger than what she was used to. Fox sized in fact. She climbed onto the soft mattress and immediately collapsed in relaxation. Nick smiled, and climbed in beside her. Nick positioned himself so that he held her softly, and comfortably for the both of them. He was lost in pure bliss. This was all he had ever really dreamed of. Judy closed her eyes and easily fell asleep in Nick's warm embrace. Nick stayed awake for a little longer, taking in these events. He remembered the dream he had just a few hours ago. The dream, that was eerily similar to this. He knew its purpose now. All he had ever wished for, was to be with Judy. Be with her so comfortably that he could sleep beside her without fear of embarrassment. But deep down he feared that his own issues, his own ignorance would be the end of her. He loved her as if she had traveled the seven seas just to meet him. If he became something else in the pressure of this crisis, it could be the end. The dream was a warning. A warning from his own thoughts telling him to be careful. The next few days, would be treacherous indeed, but the real enemy for Nick, for Judy, could be right inside of himself. Nick suppressed the the thought. He could handle himself. With Judy, anything was possible.

Nick closed his eyes, slowly falling to the grasp of sleep. He hoped for the world he knew to be gone when he woke up. For it all to just be another dream. Although he knew, it was not possible. The pandemic still closed in, and time was running out. He treated this sleep with Judy as if it was his last. Because he knew, it very well could be.

He kissed Judy on the head passionately, "I love you Carrots."

"Sweet dreams"