Chapter 7. Officer Down!

Judy's POV

I followed behind a few officers closely. Unlike the others, though, I left my...gun in it's holster. Usually, we used non-lethals on criminals. But sadly, Chief Bogo had demanded we go into the woods armed.

I trembled with nervousness as we moved deeper into the thick greenery. Though I'd lived in Bunnyburrow nearly my entire life, till moving to Zootopia, I'd never really gotten the chance to explore these woods. My parents had never allowed me to. They feared what kind of 'evil creatures' might be lurking within it.

I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that memory. My parents had always been so overprotective. Even though I was entirely capable of caring for myself. My smile faded when I remembered what Frederick had told me. And the fact that both my parents were missing. I puffed out my chest, and let it out slowly. This was a time to be finding killers. Not having cute flashbacks.

Officer Stampede looked around for a bit, aiming his gun wherever he looked. "Alright everybody. This would be a good time to split up."

I turned my attention to him, gulping slightly. "I-I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Officer Hopps, please. Chief Bogo put ME in charge. And the best way to track anyone down is to go in different directions. And if you really are an Officer as you claim, you'll take the orders given to you. Understood?" He snapped.

I tensed up a little, but eventually relaxed. I nodded in reply, and branched off from the other three Officers. I couldn't ignore the anger and pain that quickly rose into my chest at Stampede's comment. Cop or not, there were still gonna be some who didn't appreciate the fact I had the job I did. There were always gonna be animals out there who didn't, and wouldn't, approve.

My thoughts were quickly pushed aside when I tripped over something. I yelped, falling onto my hands and knees. I looked behind me to see what I'd tripped over. A metal object was sticking out of the ground, much to my surprise. Upon further examaination, I discovered it to be a latch. After much tugging and grunting, I pulled up a hidden door.

I shined my flashlight down the newly discovered hole. Turns out there was a ladder leading down to...something. I held my breath and began my descent. When I reached the bottom I found an entire system of metal hallways. What were these for? And where did they all lead? I couldn't explore them all at once, so I stuck to the one down the middle of them all.

I lost track of how long I was following the hall, but I eventually came across a large metal door. It was open.

"Has somebody been in here recently?" I wondered aloud.

I didn't have time to think about it. I just needed to find out what was going on here. I genetle nudged the door open, tip toeing inside. I was surprised to come acorss a large chalkboard. It had tons of pictures, notes, and information scattered across it. There were files laying on the table in front of the board. I picked one up, nervously opening it. My blood ran cold at what I saw.

There were pictures of different female bunnies. All of which, were dead. But that wasn't the most disturbing thing. One: All bunnies in questions had been killed by the same animal, a fox. Two: They all looked like...me. And as I continued flipping through the photos, I came across one that frightened me to my core. It was of Nick and I.

I dropped the file, grabbing another. I opened it, seeing more pictures of me or Nick. Some with us seperate, some with us together. But I soon faded from the pictures, all that was left was Nick. I found all the pictures had been dated. So it didn't take long to find some very recent ones.

"This must've been when we were waiting at the train station. This is him getting the taxi to go home. This is him heading to work the night Waterson was killed!" I exclaimed.

Somebody had been following us. For a long time, and closely. But why? Why kill a bunch of female rabbits? Why stalk Nick, me, and my family? Why murder them? Why turn Nick into some kind of monster? What was the motive here!?

Suddenly, my walkie talkie went off, startling me. "Officer Hopps! Come in, Hopps!"

"Yes? I'm here. What's going on?"

The Officer on the other line began cutting out. I could only pick up bits and pieces. "We're being- Nichol-Wild-he's attac-help!"

I quickly ran out of the room. Not before grabbing an unread file though. I ran down the hall, heading for the exit. Or at least, what I thought was the exit. I soon discovered I was lost. To make matters worse, the other Officers sounded...panicked. I soon heard vicious growls and screams coming from the other end.

"NO! Stand d-down criminal! Stop! O-Officer down! Officer do-" The screams said before it cut out.

"Crap! Now what!?" I yelped, still running about in a frenzy.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance" A deep voice said behind me.

I didn't even have time to turn around when I was grabbed and my face was covered. I tried to struggle away, but it was no use. Everything went black a few seconds later.