Ch 12 The Rescue

Hello, my friends. I am here to bring you the twelfth chapter of Collars. I am also hear to say that this is the third to last chapter of the series so I hope you've enjoyed the story thus far as it is reaching its close. Anyway without further ado here is The Rescue.

Nick stood there broad shouldered and determined. He was ten feet away from the bridge that led to the asylum and he had been spotted already. He watched as about twenty wolves wielding dart rifles rushed at him and he was soon surrounded. He wasn't scared as he looked around making sure to look each one in the eye. "Hey fellas how are you today?" he gave them all a cheeky smirk, but it didn't last long as soon he heard one of the guns fire and didn't even feel himself hit the ground.

Two Hours Ago

Nick was pacing Ben's apartment it had been a week already and his anxiety had been steadily increasing all the while. He was now healed enough to move without giving himself a headache and so with Ben and Finnick's help, they orchestrated a plan to save Judy. All he had to do was wait, and that was not something he could easily do at the moment. Soon he heard the buzzer go off and ran to the door and opened it and saw Ben standing on the front porch in his police uniform. He hit the button that unlocked the door and Ben stepped in. "Is it ready?" Nick's worry filled his voice.

"Come on it's about time we need to get you over there," Ben said nodding his head.

Nick followed his friend out of the apartment utterly relieved that their plan was coming together. "So, Finnick is in place, right?" Nick asks as he sits down in the car Finnick had gotten somewhere for them.

"Yeah all you need to do is go in, get Judy, and make your way back to the bridge and everything else is on him." The car's engine turns and soon they're off driving through the now sunlit city of Zootopia "I have to get back to the precinct so I can only drop you off, but if everything goes to plan Judy will be safe and I can then give Bogo the files from the video camera."

Go in and get Judy that is all Nick needed to do. The video camera was thankfully saved due to Ben's know how on tech. "Thank you, Ben," Nick says "you've done so much more for Judy and I than we could ever have hoped for."

Ben chuckles, smiling "It is the least I could do for you two," he says "just get her out alive ok we need her."

The rest of the car ride is quiet and soon Nick finds himself walking along the deserted winding road leading to Cliffside and furthermore leading to Judy. "I'm almost there carrots please be ok."

Present

There was a constant pressure that filled Nicks head threatening to burst when his eyes finally slid open. The first thing he took in was the white washed walls around him that gave him the feeling of a hospital. The second thing was not as inviting. He went slightly cross-eyed when he noticed the muzzle clamped firmly around his face and his old fears emerged briefly as he struggled to move. It was then he noticed that he was strapped to a chair. Straps around his legs and wrists held him down while a strap around his chest held him firmly to the back of the cushioned chair. He couldn't move even an inch as much as he tried. He calmed himself instantly to assess the situation and find a way out. He began to test each strap. First he tried to push himself forward to see if the strap around his chest was loose to find it was not. Next his legs: first the right, and then the left. Again nothing was going to budge. He tried to lift his left hand off the armrest and it too was firmly planted to the chair. He sighed almost defeated when he tried his right. Rrrrrriiiiiiiip. The leather strap was beginning to tear away ever so slightly from the chair and he smiled. He instantly stopped when he heard a door open and the sound of someone wheeling something in.

A rather big ram comes into view wheeling a metal cart and parking it a few feet in front of the chair Nick is stuck in. The cart has one item on it a rather small silver suitcase. The ram looks over to Nick and a small smile crosses his face. "Awake I see," he says "good timing just about to wake you up, but seeing as you've taken that fun away from me I guess I'll just have to get to the main event." He turns back to the cart and begins to open the latches of the case. "You and your little bunny friend have been busy bodies," he says over his shoulder as he opens the case and begins to rummage through its small contents. Nick sees him set out a few syringes and small bottles of clear liquid. "Thought you had us didn't ya," the ram says turning his head to look at Nick "got a little info and thought you could just waltz on in here and blow this whole thing wide open." Nick just gave the ram a steely-eyed look. "Tough guy huh," he gives a small laugh "we'll see how tough you are once I'm done with you." At that point, the ram had everything out of the case and turned around holding something in his hand. "See this fox," he walks closer letting Nick get a good look. In the ram's hand was a metal link strapped collar. Nick almost lost his cool demeanor at the sight but recovered quickly. Not fast enough for the ram to see the glimpse of fear in his eyes, though. "Heh, that's right it's a collar. New design gonna come down the line in a few days for all the pathetic preds to get," he chuckles "looks good and feels good is what I'm told also its jam-packed with a little something extra, but I can't spoil the surprise." He walks a bit closer "Just gotta see how the shock function works never got to test it before," he says "and you look like just the right animal to test it on." Before he can get any closer the door opens again.

"Doug," it's a deeper huskier voice "Bellweather needs to see you."

The ram groans "I am in the middle of something she can wait."

"You don't want to piss her off it should just take a few minutes," the animal speaking almost sounded worried.

The ram sighs and turns around walking to the cart and sets the collar back in the case and walks to the door. "Fine," he says "keep an eye on him if he gets unruly just dose him with a bit of anesthetic I left some on the cart in there. Don't do too much I don't want to have to wait for him to wake up again."

Nick hears the door close and the room goes silent. He immediately wrestles with the right strap until it rips far enough for his hand to slip out. He quickly unbuckles the other straps and then in a frantic haste tears the muzzle off his face and it clatters against the ground. He stops dead and listens for the door, but it doesn't open so he stands up and looks around. The room is empty of anything other than the cart and the chair. He begins to think of a way to get past the guard when he remembers what that ram said. He looks over at the cart and sees three syringes and rushes over to it picking the bottle up and looking at it. "Just the stuff doctors use to put you under I guess," he mutters to himself as he picks up a syringe and plugs it through the thin aluminum top the bottle has and fills the syringe up. He doesn't know how big the guy on the other side of the door is so he plays it safe only putting about 150 milligrams in the syringe before setting the bottle down. He rushes over to the door and plants himself against the wall so that when the door opens it blocks him from view. He takes a deep breath and slams his hand against the door. "Get in here there's a fire!"

The door flies open and Nick stops it from hitting him and he sees a figure walk in. It is one of the timber wolf guards and he sees the chair empty and is about to turn around when Nick launches himself onto his back. "Arrg what the hell get off me!" The wolf flails around, but Nick is still able to slam the syringe into his neck and pumps the drug into him. The wolf manages to throw Nick off his back, but as he turns to face him he starts to wobble on his feet. "Whaa..what did you do t…to mmme." The wolf falls to his knees. The drug wasn't enough to knock him out but it put him in a stupor. Nick rushes forward, and thinking quickly kicks the wolf in the side of the head knocking him out cold.

Nick stands there panting and then turns to run out the door when his foot kicks something and it slides across the floor. He pulls his foot up clutching it hopping on the other cursing when he looks at what he stubbed it on. A silver handgun sits just a few feet away. Nick figured the guards were outfitted with a bit more heat than just dart guns, but he didn't expect he'd be under a heavier guard than that. He thinks for a second before walking over to it and picking it up. He'd need to keep Judy safe in any way possible, he just hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

Long white washed hallways were all he could find. Sometimes the occasional door, but none of them had Judy behind them. He almost ran into guards three times already so when he heard footsteps he immediately planted himself against the wall and waited hoping it wasn't another timber wolf. "Come on Honey," a small voice filled the hall "just find a way to do it and then do it." Nick watched as a honey badger turned the corner. Her face was buried in a clipboard and she took no notice of the red fox as she continued on mumbling to herself. It wasn't until Nick stopped her and she heard the click of the gun that she stopped talking.

"Ok listen," Nick says "I really don't want to use this thing, but I need one thing from you."

The badger gulps "y-yeah anything." She doesn't dare turn her head to see who is holding the gun.

"Take me to Judy Hopps right now," he lets his voice fill with the anger that was bubbling inside of him all week. The badger let out a small whimper and nodded and she began to walk with Nick right behind her. She led him straight to and elevator and pushed the button. The ding sounded and the doors opened. Empty. They stepped in Nick made sure to stay behind the Badger so she didn't get a good look at him and she pressed the button for the third floor.

"Please don't shoot me," she says in a small voice "just let me go when we get there and I won't breathe a word." Her voice is trembling.

Nick feels a lump like iron settle in his gut. He was being a monster to fight a monster and he hated it. "We'll see," is all he says as the elevator dings and the doors slide open again. This floor is much more populated with guards around every corner, but the Badger knows just how to get past them as she leads Nick through several rooms and finally they arrive at a door with a label on it "interrogation room" the badger opens the door and Nick almost drops the gun when he sees what he came for.

Judy is a mess. Her fur is all matted and torn in places. She is only wearing a white tank top and the black pants she was wearing the night they broke in. The worst part is that her left arm is bent oddly and Nick can see a deep gash going across her stomach that was bandaged poorly. She has been cuffed to a hard plastic chair that she managed to topple over onto its side as if in an attempt to escape. Her eyes drift open slightly and she murmurs something but goes silent again. Nick practically flies into the room, dropping the gun, and to her leaving the Badger at the door. He gently picks the chair up and sets it right side up and looks at the cuffs that are holding Judy there. "Damn it I need a key," he snarls, but he feels a hand on his shoulder and looks over it to see the badger there. She holds out a silver key and he takes it "but…what how did you get this and why are you helping me?"

The badger smiles slightly "I was actually coming up here to check up on her and re-bandage that wound," the badger says with sorrow in her voice "that monster Doug did this. I was told to keep her alive I'm sorry that this happened to her."

Nick gave her a small smile "Thank you," he says "I'm sorry too, but right now I need to get her out of here."

"There is another elevator at the end of the hall it opens up at the lobby to the asylum," the badger says quickly "you can take it and get out as fast as you can I can lure the guards away. It's all I can do to help."

Nick looks at Judy and then nods "do it." The Badger nods and runs out of the room leaving Nick to unlock the cuffs and pick Judy up gently. The bunny groans in pain but hangs limp in his arms almost as if she were dead. "Stay with me carrots we're getting you out of here." Judy's eyes open slightly again and she mumbles something and then slips unconscious again. Nick rushes to the door making sure not to let the bunny jostle around too much and he looks into the hall. "He is still on the second floor I barely got away, He's got a gun!" the badger's voice flows through the hall and soon Nick sees a small army run through the hall and leaving the way to the elevator clear. Nick makes his way down the hall and to the elevator and presses the button. Seconds later the doors are sliding open and he is pressing the ground floor button. As the elevator makes it's decent an alarm goes off through the building. The doors open and he rushes out and into the lobby of the building. The room is surprisingly clear and so they are able to make it out of the building and Nick begins to rush to the bridge. He ignores the wolves that are now noticing him and yelling for him to stop and he runs onto the bridge stopping as the other side is blockaded by a line of wolves with their rifles all aimed at him. He looks over his shoulder to see the same thing behind him and then he takes a deep breath and smiles. "Darn boys looks like you caught us," he says calmly "no way out now." He steps closer to the edge of the bridge and peers over it and then steps up onto the barrier careful to keep Judy firmly in his grip. "Well, you know now that I think about it there's always a way out."

"Step down from the ledge now!" a wolf yells at him as they draw closer.

"Yeah no," he takes a step back and falls out of sight. The wolves all converge to see if they can see them in the river below, but as they make it to the edge a huge balloon rises up into view. Nick is standing on the deck of the blimp and he waves at the wolves as the aircraft turns towards Zootopia and slowly chugs away. Nick ducks down as a hail of darts come flying at them and embed themselves into the wooden deck as well as a few hit the balloon itself. Nick stand back up and looks to see that Cliffside is becoming further away and smaller. He did it.

"Nick," a friendly voice says and Nick feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns to see Ben standing there "You did it!" The cheetah pulls him into a bone crushing hug before letting him go. "Also I was able to get that footage to Bogo," he says "he reviewed it and told me if I wanted to keep my job and not get arrested I have to bring you and Judy in today."

Nick nods "we need to get Judy help as fast as we can first." He looked over at the bunny. She was laying on the deck with Ben coat over her. She was shivering but burning up at the same time most likely from and infection.

Ben nods as well "Don't worry Nick she'll make it."

"Yo, no love for your pal over here," Nick looks over to see Finnick at the wheel of the blimp "I mean it wasn't entirely easy to get this blimp and also no easy to keep it hovering next to that waterfall all night and day."

"Finny it wouldn't have been possible without you," Nick smiles at his friend.

Finnick just growls and looks away "you're welcome…fool."

Nick goes and sits beside Judy putting a hand to her burning head. He sighs and leans against the side of the deck and closes his eyes. "You'll be ok Jude, I promised to keep you safe after all." He smiles and enjoys the moment of freedom. They were safely on their way to the city and almost had the entire conspiracy dismantled. All they needed to do was meet with the chief of police.