It felt good to have the wind in her fur again. There was nothing like the power of her bike. She could feel every inch of her body vibrate with it. Every strand of fur radiated with it. The first few times she took the bike out she ended up getting shocked by her collar from the sheer exhilaration of it. She eventually learned to temper the feeling and now it was more like meditation to hug the curves of the road.
The sun was going down over the sandy dunes of Sahara square when she got to the hostile. She wheeled her bike up in the fading orange light. It felt like it had been more like weeks since she had been there; even though it had only been two days.
Most of the other mammals were around the dining table enjoying the communal meal. It was included in the fee. Juliet shrugged and got a plate, joining them. She ate silently, listening to them jabber on about boys, jobs, and money.
She realized they all had the same sort of defeated tone in their voice. There was something she couldn't quite place, a sadness. As she watched them talk, she could the same sadness in them. In their movements, their mannerisms. Every last one of them was so dull and cheerless. Juliet hadn't noticed it before, but now she had seen what mammals looked like when they had even a small moment without their collars. This scene was like something out of a black and white film.
Leo's words came to mind, "Paradise". She had an urge to drag every one of them down to the park and show them even a moment of real joy like she had. Except, she had to arrest the fox responsible for it all. Her survival depended on it. What would be the point to show them something she may be taking away?
She lost her appetite and put her plate in the sink. She threw her stuff onto her top bunk and jumped up silently. She lay on the comforter with her paws behind her head. Bringing in a bounty had never bothered her before. She hadn't even laid eyes on this guy, and she wasn't sure about bringing him in. It was always, there is the bad guy, get him. No muss, no fuss.
It was all Leo's fault. He had been the one to point out all the good the fox was doing at every turn. Leo always slowed her down when she tried to charge into things. She folded her arms. As a matter of fact, he had been acting strange all day. What was up with him?
She glared at the ceiling, trying to recall their conversations. The one which came to mind over and over again was Leo asking if she had a boyfriend. From Juliet's experience in observing mammals over the years, a male usually does that when he is interested in a female. She turned her head slightly and twitched her ear. No way. Leo? Why would he have any interest in her? She shook her head and got under the covers.
She was going to go back to the clinic and sniff around for that fox. She had to survive before she could worry about her best friend carrying a torch for her. Why did she notice now? He couldn't have just decided today that he liked her. It was probably the park. That park…
She drifted off to sleep dreaming of carnival games and purple ducks.
She had breakfast with the other predators, mostly out of guilt that they had no idea about the park, and she did. If it still ran, she had every intention of taking every last one of them. She would take every single predator in Zootopia just to give them a taste of that momentary freedom if she could.
Why did they have the stupid collars in the first place? She felt some small pang of anger somewhere deep inside her. Beep. The other predators, two wolves and a polar bear, looked at her with suspicion. She smiled sheepishly and said, "Heh, I have a bounty giving me the slip. Bugging me a little. Oh, and I think my friend might like me, so just got some stuff."
The polar bear, her name was Jaqlin, perked up and said, "Oh! Finally, you and Leo are getting together?"
"What do you mean finally?" Juliet asked, puzzled. All of the preds at the table laughed and didn't say anything else. Juliet grumped and took her plate over to the sink. She waved goodbye and grabbed her cuffs out of her bag. She mouthed, 'finally?' to herself as a question. She shook it off and stashed her stuff on her bunk. Whatever they meant, it would have to wait until after she got her mark.
Happytown was pretty busy, she had no idea that there was a farmer's market. She found a place to park her bike. She would be able to blend in better at least. Juliet wandered around the market, looking at the different fruits, vegetables, and crafts.
It wasn't long before her attention wandered from the wares to the mammals. She found herself comparing prey to predator. Prey were colorful, laughing, full of life. They were alive and free. Preds, most of them had that same listless, gray look to them. There were a few that smiled, a few that found a way to feel, to fight. Juliet made an effort to wave and smile at each one. She wanted them to know that she saw the effort they made, that she was fighting too.
Fighting what exactly? She shook it off, she was there for a reason. Juliet decided to leave the market and make her way toward the collar clinic. She found the clinic, but it was closed. She growled in frustration, but then she noticed a small fox decal in the corner of the closed sign that had an arrow pointing to the left of the building.
She followed it around back to find the wolverine, Richard, from the day before reading a risqué magazine full of canid females. He quickly stashed it when she came around the corner. He smiled and said, "Ah, its 5k."
"5k?"
"Your voltage, before I changed it. What can I do you for? You here for another day in the park?"
She chuckled, "Actually, I was hoping to catch your boss, Mr. Wilde. I had some questions. I want a job."
He clicked his tongue, "Right, well, Nick is not the type to get found. He is the type to go find mammals. I will let him know you are looking for him. He is out…er… looking for carrots." The wolverine slapped his knee and laughed loudly.
Juliet didn't get it. "Right. Well then how do I go about getting into the park on a day when the clinic doesn't operate?"
"Say please." He smiled a very toothy grin.
This very odd display caught Juliet off guard and she giggled childishly. "I'll keep that in mind. For now, I was just curious." She padded off shaking her head, and he went back to his dirty mag. A thought occurred to her, maybe she could sneak in and get to Wilde's office. She looked at the clinic and tried to imagine where the elevator door was inside.
She had her best guess in mind as she tried to look for a water source large enough to flood the subway tunnel. Then she remembered then Happytown was adjacent to the rainforest district. Sly fox…he could just bypass the runoff. She just had to listen for water and…Yahtzee.
She found a drain cover large enough that she could fit through it. It looked as though she hadn't been the first one with the idea. The fence covering had been cut and peeled back numerous times for different size mammals. She happened to be rather small, so she would fit easily. She could just sneak in and get to his office….
"Well aren't you just a vision from behind, my sweet Juliet" came a voice from behind her.