He turned the key to his apartment, opening the front door to be greeted by the sights and smells of a Hopps family buffet before him. Everything from a salad made with various grasses, to sweet potatoes, broccoli, peppers, squash, and both an apple and blueberry pie.
"What's all this?" Nick said in awe of the spread laid out before him.
"Is it too much?" Bonnie asked as she was pulling roasted vegetables out of the oven.
"Well… no…" Nick struggled not sound ungrateful. "I'm flattered really… but this is more than what Judy and I eat in a month…" He said as he was mesmerized by the feast before him.
"It's hard to cook small portions, at the farm there are usually thirty of us on any given night." Bonnie said casually while working in the kitchen.
"She cooks when she's nervous." Stu leaned in as Nick sat down on the couch. "The news… almost 500 dead… she's been in a state ever since."
"That's okay, I'm sure Clawhauser would go to town on one of those pies." Nick said as he looked at the food that awaited him.
"Well, whatcha waiting for? Get it before it gets cold!" Mrs. Hopps waved them over.
"I haven't had cooking like this in a long time." Nick complemented as he made himself a plate, skipping the grass salad.
"Because you haven't been to the farm in a long time." Bonnie winked as she watched Nick and Stu scooping food onto their plates. "Don't worry, Nick, I didn't clean out your cupboards."
"I'm really flattered." Nick said. The aromas provided him much needed comfort, a welcomed light in the middle of their darkness. The food was incredible, Nick couldn't remember the last time he and Judy didn't eat something that wasn't prepackaged, or came through a window of a fast food joint.
"Making the world a better place?" Stu asked as he stuffed a fork full of grass salad into his mouth.
Hmmph! "Always!" Nick smirked between chews of the roasted vegetables. "How many grandkids do you have now?"
"1,544." Stu said without looking up from his plate. A sudden sputtering erupted from the table as Nick nearly choked on a chunk of sweet potato.
"How do you buy presents for all of them?" Nick said through fits of coughing, rubbing tears that had involuntarily formed in his eyes.
"We don't." Stu said flatly. "That's why we always have big dinners; it's always someone's birthday or anniversary."
"If we bought presents for every birthday, we'd be broke by the end of the week." Bonnie gave a soft chuckle. It was something Nick had a hard time trying to figure out, he always got something on his birthday, even if it was something as small as a pack of playing cards.
"I never knew you all didn't exchange gifts." The fox said with an air of bewilderment still lingering over him.
"None of us rabbits do." Stu said. "Except, maybe, between a rabbit and a fox." He nudged Nick jokingly.
"Nick…" The fox looked up suddenly in response to Bonnie's change in inflection. "Are they going to find her?" Her violet eyes, the same eyes that were passed down to her daughter, stared back at him as they swam, tears ready escape any second.
"Of course!" Nick tried as hard as he could to put on a reassuring face. "The Sniffers will find anyone. They've been able to find animals lost for three weeks." The table was quiet except for the scraping of silverware on plates.
"I can't wait three weeks…" Bonnie's voice trailed as her lips quivered. "…Excuse me…" She said quickly as she rushed to the bedroom.
"Bonnie!" Nick called after her. "I didn't mean-"
"It's okay, Nick, she's just stressed." Stu gave Nick a comforting pat on the shoulder. "We all are."
"Yeah… I know…" Nick said, looking down at his food, suddenly losing his appetite.
He could smell the fresh farm air as he stared longingly at the portrait of Nick and Judy at the Hopps' farm as he lay on the couch. The warm spring sunlight warming his fur as sweat dripped down his back underneath his shirt. There was never a happier moment than the moment he dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him. Even as he lay on the couch in the darkness of the apartment they shared, the joy of that day warmed him. He reached out to try to touch the portrait, but it was just barely out of reach. Just a couple of inches away from touching the image of Judy's leg, it wouldn't have compared to having her back home and resting in bed, but for now it had to do. He stared at the picture for hours, always looking at the face of the rabbit who convinced him to become a police officer. He felt himself replaying their life together, from the proposal to moving in together, to the day she got shot, and the night he confessed that he might not be able to live without her. Finally, he replayed the car chase, and the last time he saw her, launching herself out of the car and disappearing into the shopping mall. He felt his eyes growing heavy as he saw the tail of Judy Hopps disappearing behind the door, and he finally fell asleep.
Nick looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Florescent lights flickered and sputtered as live wires unleashed a shower of sparks. In the brief flashes of light, he made out a corridor. Cracked concrete, chipped and broken porcelain tiles echoed under his feet as he shuffled carefully down the poorly lit hall. The acrid air smothered him with smoke, burning wires, and a distant smell of gasoline. Looking up, he saw pipes, ducts, and wiring of the ceiling where tiles had broke free. He shielded his eyes as one of the wires ignited, sending sparks down onto him. In the flashes of light, he saw where the concrete from the ceiling above him had buckled and nearly cut off the hallway he walked through. With every flash, he was able to see clothes racks, and shelves with toppled and destroyed merchandise on the floor above him. In the distance, his ears picked up a distant howl, and a rumble that caused dust to rain down like snow. Nick stepped slowly across the broken and uneven floor, being careful not to trip on the cracks.
He fumbled in the darkness until he reached a concrete slab blocking his path. Nick crouched and crawled along the corridor, his paws feeling the wet floor as he tried not to hyperventilate in the tight space. Reached a larger space, he was able to stand up, still shuffling forward, listening to the tinkling of broken glass and porcelain beneath his feet as he persevered in the darkness. He reached out to the wall for guidance in the darkness, only to feel something soft under his paw. The florescent lights and wires sparked violently and revealed the corridor ahead of him.
Bodies. Nick's eyes widened in horror as several bodies lay sprawling in the hallway. He looked over and followed his arm as it reached out… touching something… something black.
Nick recoiled as he let out a sharp cry that echoed through the corridor. He backed away as far as he could until he stumbled over a chunk of concrete. Lights flickered more and Nick saw the face of a jaguar with black fur, red shirt, and denim shorts, slumped against the wall. Nick felt himself panting and gasping for air, his breathing echoing through the hallway as he tried to control himself. He turned toward a junction in the corridor, and with each slow, careful step, he slid his body along the wall in fear of touching another animal.
He found more light as he reached the junction. Looking to the left, he saw more bodies laying on the floor, more crushed concrete, and more debris littering the hall. A soft trickle of water echoed as streams poured form broken pipes in the ceiling. To the right, was a staircase under a sign that read 'PARKING' with an arrow pointing downward. Water flowed across the floor toward the staircase, underneath more sparks from wires.
"Nick!" The fox snapped up to listen, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. He tried to hear the voice again from the direction of the stairs.
"Nick!" The voice screamed again. He felt his spine freeze as he listened to the voice scream in agony.
"Judy?" He said under his breath as he felt himself walking toward the stairs. Relief and terror stirred inside him as he walked toward the stairs.
"Nick!" Despite his rapid breathing, Nick felt like he was suffocating. Each breath felt more like a plastic bag wrapping tighter around his muzzle.
"Judy!" He called out toward the stairs as he got closer to them, passing under a shower of water from another broken pipe.
"Nick!... I can't…" He heard her screaming from the lower level, out of view of the fox. "It hurts, Nick!" His stomach churned listening to her; he could hear her crying as he descended the stairs and entered the underground parking lot. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw dozens of crushed cars. Concrete slabs rested upon the cars, some with clothes racks, furniture, and other merchandise leaning precariously on one another. The smell of gasoline flooded his airway as he stepped carefully forward, trying to avoid looking at more bodies that were trapped in cars, or resting on the slabs that had turned the vehicles into pancakes.
"Judy?" Nick called out to the wrecked parking level. He didn't see any trace of her as he scanned the area, some of the cars were smoking, and a smaller handful Nick could see flames dancing from the engine compartment.
"Nick!" She screamed. Nick started toward where the voice was coming from, being careful to step over debris. He squeezed his way around destroyed cars and around columns that had snapped under the weight of the building. Sharp pieces of metal cut through his clothes as he tried to get through, turning a corner to where a ramp was to the lower levels of the parking garage.
There she was.
"Judy!" He cried.
She was lying on the concrete floor of the parking lot; a slab of the ceiling was lying on top of her. He took a step forward, met with a rumble as dust became unsettled and rained down. Gasoline leaked from one of the nearby cars.
"Judy!" Nick croaked as he got to her, grabbing her paw. "Judy… I'm so sorry… I should have stopped you…"
"It hurts, Nick…" She sobbed as she opened her eyes to look at him. "I can't feel my legs…"
"I'm going to get you out… I promise. I'm not going to leave you!" He said as he let go of her paw. Nick grabbed a corner of the concrete slab and tried to lift it. The fox's screams rang through the parking lot as the slab remained unmoving. He paused as he felt a more violent rumble shake the crushed concrete and cars that surrounded him.
"Nick…" Judy whimpered. "I'm sorry…"
"I'm not going to leave you here!" Nick couldn't hide the desperation in his voice as he tried to find a way to get Judy free. He strained his muscles as he tried to lift the concrete that had Judy pinned. Again and again, and again, he lifted until his body gave out. Each time the ceiling remained on top of the rabbit. Tears of anguish, and of exhaustion, began running down his face as his ears picked up a rumbling sound. He turned to where he came from and listened to the sound of the rumbling growing louder.
A torrent of water gushed into the parking garage from where Nick had entered. The flash flood washed over debris, spilling into and over cars that were crushed. Nick desperately tried pulling the concrete off of Judy as cold water rushed over his feet. He listened as she coughed and sputtered as she lay pinned. In a last ditch effort, he grabbed her arms and tried pulling her from underneath the slab. Judy let out a painful, ear splitting scream as he tugged her with all of his might. Nick wanted to vomit listening to her shrieking and begging him to stop.
Nick was knocked off of his feet and dragged away by a sudden current in the water. He picked himself up and tried wading through the rapids, trying to get back to the ears that poked out through the torrent of water. It was up to his waist now as he fought against the water, seeing her ears and paws grasping barely above the water.
"Judy!" Nick screamed out as she disappeared under river of water that flooded the parking level. He tried pulling himself against the current of the water. With every inch he got toward her, the current pushed him three inches way.
He couldn't see where he was stepping. All of a sudden, he sank underneath the torrent of water. He couldn't see, didn't know up from down as he was being dragged with the current. He quickly grabbed onto a thick cable that was used to prevent cars from driving over the edge of the parking level. Nick gasped and sputtered as his head broke the surface, water splashing against his face as he choked on the water. He pulled himself along the cable to where he last saw Judy.
"Judy!" He tried to scream over the deafening roar of the water. Nick climbed along the cable as if he were scaling a sheer cliff. The water pushing against him as it tried to pull him away.
"Judy!" Nick screamed louder until it felt like his vocal cords were rupturing. He searched around as the water rushed over him, choking him, and trying to pull him down. He gasped as fought against the water and his own exhaustion.
"Judy!" His throat grew tight as he desperately screamed as his voice gave out, still frantically pulling himself against the current.
"Nick…"
"Nick…" An older voice called to his ear.
He felt something shake his shoulder. "Nick!"
The fox awoke covered head to toe in sweat. His breathing was still as rapid as it was when he was dreaming. Bonnie looked down at him, wearing a silk bathrobe, looking at him the way he was looking at Judy under the slab of concrete.
"Nick? Are you okay?" Bonnie whispered while her eyes were still wide in alarm.
Mm-hmmm… Nick nodded his head as he tried to calm himself down. "Yeah… I'm fine."
"Are you sure? It sounded like you were crying…" Bonnie said. "…and you're covered in sweat…" Mrs. Hopps felt his forehead.
"I'm fine… I'm sorry I woke you." Nick said as he rubbed his own face.
"Okay… Let me know if you need anything, dear." She said softy before going back into the bedroom. After she closed the bedroom door, Nick turned his body so he was facing the back of the couch. He wedged his face as far as he could into the between the couch cushion, and the back of the couch. Nick clutched the cushion tightly, holding it as if his life depended on it, afraid to go back to sleep.