Chapter 21: Conspiracy Unmasked
"Hi, Doug here," the heavyset ram answered his phone in his typical clinical monotone. The greeting was unnecessary, he only ever got calls from one mammal on this phone, and she only ever called when she needed him. Still, he was a professional, and he would act like it.
"Doug. It's me again," the sharp female voice came through the speaker. Again, unnecessary, Doug noted, but every mammal has habits when answering the phone, and it wasn't easy to change them, even when you were trying to be covert. 'Perhaps I need to try and change up a few of my own,' he thought to himself, 'It wouldn't do to be caught out by some stupid habit.' He returned his attention to the voice on the other end of the phone line.
"Status report," she demanded simply, but without hostility.
"I'm operating at maximum efficiency," Doug replied succinctly. His employer was not interested in idle chit-chat. She wanted the facts as quickly and accurately as possible. "The next crop will be ready for harvest in two days' time, and I still have enough material to process before then. I have a ready stockpile of two dozen pellets and will have a further dozen ready by tomorrow morning. Labs two and four are up and running with a dozen pellets ready between them, and potential to double that by tomorrow."
"What about lab three?"
"They ran into difficulty yesterday when a riot topside damaged the power grid in that sector. They saved the crop, but the backup generators aren't powerful enough to run the distillation equipment. They're in the process of moving to a new location, but that causes delays. They won't be able to begin to process the crop until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."
"Unfortunate, but unavoidable," the voice on the phone sighed. "Inform labs two and four to work overtime until they've prepared all the pellets they can. Our schedule has moved up. It's time to move to phase three."
"Phase three?" Doug asked, professional concern leaking into his voice. "We're not ready for phase three yet! We don't have nearly enough pellets."
"We don't have a choice. The Federation troops will be here by midday tomorrow, and we need to be ready for them when they arrive. You'll have to make do."
Doug pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Understood. We'll work through the night to have our next batch ready by dawn."
"Good. But first, I have another target for you. I have a feeling that Bogo and the ZPD are not going to back down without a fight. I need to prevent that happening. You are to go into Precinct One HQ and dart Constable Delgato. He's a lion, so be careful. You shouldn't have any troubles getting in with all of my recent additions, so be quick about it."
"Lion at the ZPD. Got it boss," Doug answered. He knew exactly who his employer was, but she refused to let him speak her name over the phone in case someone was listening in. "I'll call you when I'm done. Or," he added with a menacing grin, "you'll see it on the news. Whichever happens first."
"I don't care," she replied shortly, "just get it done. I'll call you with the location for tomorrow's attack early." The line clicked dead, and Doug tossed the phone onto the bench, pleased that he would be back causing damage and chaos before long. He'd been looking forward to phase three for weeks, and now that it was upon him, he could barely contain his excitement. They would cause mass panic, the likes of which Zootopia had never seen before. And when the military arrived to find dozens of savage predators on the loose, his employer's plans would finally be close to fruition. 'Yes,' he smiled gleefully to himself, envisioning the bloodbath that would soon be upon them, 'tomorrow will be a grand day indeed!'
"Carrots!" Nicky hissed urgently, keeping her voice as low as she could, "What are you doing?!" Judas had moved around to the back of the train car, and Nicky had scrambled to catch up to him, frantically trying to prevent him from doing anything rash. Instead of answering Nicole's question, Judas motioned her forward silently, and pressed his ear to the crack between the door and wall of the carriage. With a suppressed sigh, Nicky moved up to the rabbit and pressed her ear against the crack as well.
Within they could hear movement as the mammal walked about, shifting objects around, judging by the intermittent clunks and hollow thuds that occasionally punctuated the more organic sounds of motion. They both remained glued to the door, ready on a hair-trigger to dart for safety if the mammal might make to exit, but otherwise they were unable to learn much more from their silent eavesdropping.
Nicky leaned back from the door, about to motion to Judas that they should move away and discuss a plan of action when she saw him suddenly stiffen, his eyes lighting up in interest. Curious as to what he must have heard, Nicky held off. Judas quickly glanced up at the window set higher up in the door and motioned for Nicky to make a foot hold for him with her paws. Though still unsure, Nicky had come to learn that this cute little rabbit seemed to know what he was doing, so she followed his instructions, hoping that the darker tunnel would help to hide them from anyone inside the brightly lit car.
Judas let out a barely audible sigh of relief once he was hoisted high enough to see inside. Quickly bouncing down to land quietly beside her, he stretched up to whisper in Nicky's ears. "He's not in there." Nicky had to fight the urge to twist her ears away from the ticklish sensation of Judas' warm breath blowing straight into her ears. Despite the strange sensation being slightly annoying, Nicky was surprised to find that it also felt…comforting? Almost like she was safe and warm, which she was truly neither at the moment. She felt confused at the strange reaction until an old forgotten memory surged up into her mind. One she had not thought of for a very long time, buried deep under layers of pain and bitterness.
She was a young kit again, no more than four or five years old. A ferocious storm raged outside the window of her tiny bedroom, rain and wind lashing at the panes of glass. The inky blackness of the night occasionally rent by a brilliant flash of lightning, followed almost immediately by a deafening crash of thunder. The young vixen was wrapped tightly in the strong, but gentle, embrace of an older red fox. Her father. The pair sat entangled in one another atop the pink sheets of young Nicole's small bed. With every tremendous boom outside, the kit cried out in fear, trying to burrow deeper into her father's arms for protection. And with each boom, Mark Wilde would hold his daughter tighter. Safer. He whispered soft, gentle words of encouragement, and promises of safety into her ears, protecting her against not only the terrors of the night, but of the entire world. As the storm raged louder and more fiercely, he held her all the closer, until she eventually fell into fell into a calm sleep, safe in her father's arms. And Mark Wilde continued to hold her through the storm and the night, only releasing her as she woke up again, the sun breaking through the dark clouds to a brand-new day…
"He must have moved further forward into the control room. Now's our chance!" Judas whispered excitedly, reaching for the door handle.
"Carrots! Wait!" she hissed, startled out of her trance by the sudden movement, but was too late to stop Judas as he quietly slipped inside. With a silent sigh of exasperation, she quickly followed her companion. What she saw when she stepped in caused her to freeze in shock, right behind Judas.
The compartment was brightly lit by modern LEDs that had been fixed to the ceiling, lending a sharp, sterile feel to the cramped space. And it was indeed cramped. From the door where the two had entered were three long troughs running lengthwise along the walls and down the centre of the space between. They were elevated on legs that also reached up to support overhead hoods that shone down with artificial UV light, bathing the purple flowers that occupied the troughs in an eerie light. Judging by the grim look on Judas' face, Nicky assumed these flowers were the Night Howlers that Duke had stolen. Each of the three garden troughs were filled to the brim with the toxic flowers, many of them only just beginning to open their petals.
Tracing her eyes along the edge of the troughs, Nicky looked up to the other end of the railcar. A closed door at the far end indicated where the ram they were tracking had disappeared to. Nicky just hoped it stayed closed.
That whole end of the compartment was crowded with drums, crates and propane gas tanks scattered haphazardly about a central bench that had been set up. The twisted mass of cables from the window snaked its way to a large vat behind the bench, a small number breaking away to connect to the various instruments arrayed on the bench itself. Nicky wasn't sure what to make of all the paraphernalia that ranged from tall, spiralling glass tubes to gas burners and blocky mechanical equipment, but she assumed that it all had to do with the production of whatever substance was being used to trigger savagery in other mammals.
Nervously, she glanced back to Judas who had silently moved further into the compartment, using his phone to film the space, just like he had back at the Asylum. The memory of that nearly disastrous experience quickly prompted her to reach into her bag and pull out her own phone. Silently attracting Judas' attention, she waved her phone, then placed a finger in front of her lips. Understanding suddenly lit his face, and he nodded sharply, switching the device to silent. Nicky did the same, noting as she slipped her own away again, that they had zero reception down in the rail tunnels.
They moved slowly further in and Judas panned his phone about, recording as much information as he could. Meanwhile, Nicky stepped up to a smaller desk along one of the walls. It was scattered with paperwork, photographs, newspapers and folders. Above the mess, and on the wall, was a transport map of the city. Or at least that's what Nicky assumed it was. It was a little hard to tell for certain with all the photographs and newspaper clippings pinned at various locations on the map. At first she only gave it a cursory glance, but then one particular picture caught her eye.
"Manchas!" she whispered out loud, comprehension dawning on her as she looked closer at the dozens of pictures and clippings. She recognised a few from the Asylum, and more from stories on the news, but the majority of the mammals displayed were foreign to her. She felt Judas creep up beside her, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the images.
"There must be close to a hundred," Judas breathed in awe. Nicky simply nodded, finally finding the determination to look away. A folder on the desk caught her eye instead.
The tan carboard cover was simply titled Novicius, with series of tabs that ran down the side labelled "Phase 1" through to "Phase 5". Intrigued, she reached for it.
Before she could pick it up though, her arm was suddenly jerked roughly back. Stifling a cry of surprise, she glanced back to see Judas desperately tugging on her arm, a look of terror etched on his face. Then she heard the soft click of a door unlatching.
Both mammals practically flew back to the other end of the rail car and dove under one of the planter troughs, huddling together in the furthest corner, chests heaving as they both silently tried to calm their pounding hearts. They were barely in time.
A large ram entered the brightly lit compartment, back first, occupied with fixing a bulky gasmask to his face. He was wearing a bright yellow rubber suit, vividly reminding Nicky of movies about biowarfare and super viruses. She had to consciously check her panic at the thought, forcing herself to notice the areas where the suit was obviously not skin-tight on the ram and he had intentionally left open to the air. "He's probably just taking precautions against skin-contact," she told herself, although the fear didn't fully disperse.
The ram – Doug, Duke had called him – picked up a large drum from the end of the middle hydroponic trough and carried it back towards the large vat that Nicky had noticed earlier. He removed the lid, and Judas and Nicky watched in fascination as he dumped a load of flower heads into the vat and then sealed it with a pressurised lid. He tapped a few buttons on a control console mounted alongside the vat which soon filled the room with a low hum and sent vibrations thrumming through the floor.
It didn't take long for a pale bluish-purple fluid began to pump from the vat via a connected tube to the first of the glass instruments of the bench. Nicky noticed that Judas still had his phone out, filming the entire process as the suited ram slowly moved from device to device in the chain of instruments on the bench. At each stage, the liquid became darker in colour as the essence of the flowers was slowly concentrated into a far more potent chemical. Nicky looked on in horrified fascination as Doug slowly refined his product, finally moving to the last instrument which he carefully used to fill small, clear plastic membranes. She was shocked at the relative speed of the process. She was no chemist by any means, but she did know that refinements such as these would usually take far longer than they had. It frightened her because she knew that this meant the ram must have understood the process on an almost industrial scale. Something that could easily be scaled up to a yield many hundreds of times greater. The very thought was appalling.
Finally, once Doug had filled four of the plastic pellets with the liquid, he carefully set them aside in an empty padded case, more spaces indicating room for further pellets to be added. And sure enough, Nicky could see another two drums, one at the end of both side hydroponic units. "Another eight pellets," she realised.
Doug heaved himself up from his stool and stretched with a load groan. Nicky rolled her eyes, scoffing internally at the tubby mammal. 'You'd think he'd been hunched over that bench for hours, not just fifteen minutes! Ha! I've been curled up on the floor with a rabbit all this time and you don't see me complaining!' She blinked in surprise as the last thought filtered through her mind and consciously noted the rabbit in her lap for the first time. 'Wait! That's not how I meant – ah, never mind!' she rolled her eyes again, this time at herself, thinking how dumb she would sound if anyone could listen in to her thoughts to hear her justifying them to herself. She did, however, carefully remove her tail from where it was curled around Judas' legs. Luckily for her, he didn't seem to notice the movement as he was instead focussed on what Doug was now doing.
The ram had removed his gas mask and moved over to the smaller desk covered with all the loose paperwork. But, instead of files or documents, his attention was focussed on the large black rifle laying before him. He seemed to be working to disassemble the weapon, and before long, Nicky watched in fascination as he held up a smaller, pistol-shaped gun. She caught a glimpse of the remainder of the rifle as he turned to lean it up against the wall. It had a strange cavity where the grip and chamber of a rifle would typically be. 'A modular gun!' she realised in surprise. This was clearly no run-of-the-mill rifle. Doug pulled a black briefcase out of a drawer under the desk and placed the pistol inside. Nicky could just make out several blue pellets resting in the foam padding of the case before the ram snapped it shut.
Nicky felt Judas suddenly twitch in her lap right before a loud rapping on the door cut through the relative silence in the railcar.
"About time," Doug muttered, making his way to the door. Judas and Nicky shrunk further back into the corner, hoping that they wouldn't be spotted.
"You better've gotten me an extra-large this time," Doug grumbled, opening the door. By the scents that wafted in, Nicky quickly identified the newcomers as the two other rams she'd scented while tracing the location of the hideout. She could also smell coffee. Lots of coffee. Despite the fact that she could smell that the despicable mammals had polluted the black elixir with copious amounts of sugar, cream and flavouring syrups, she couldn't help but salivate at the scent. It had been far too long since her last cup. Like, six hours or something insane like that.
Judas, it seemed, was the only mammal who had anything other than caffeine on his mind, and before Nicky realised it, he'd dashed out of their hiding spot. Startled out of her wistful daydream by the motion, she could only watch in horror as Judas stood exposed in the open for everyone to see. Time seemed to slow down for the fox as several things happened at once.
Eyes drawn to the grey blur inside the compartment, one of the rams outside peered around Doug to see a strange rabbit inside the secret lab. His eyes widened in surprise and with a cry of alarm, he jerked his right hoof forward to point him out to the others. Unfortunately for Doug, that hoof was holding a large mochaccino…
Meanwhile, Judas sprinted towards the doorway, quickly covering the short distance between him and the large ram standing there. Less than a meter from his target, Judas jumped, rotating his legs forward in mid-air…
Doug had already begun to twist away from the shower of hot, chocolaty coffee flying towards him when he felt a massive impact to his back. Already off balance from his attempted dodge, there was no chance for him to retain his footing. He suddenly found himself flying forwards through the air towards his companions, collecting the full brunt of the burning liquid with his face before crashing into them, spilling the other two coffees into the tangled mass of limbs and wool on the tunnel floor.
Judas slammed the door shut and threw the deadbolt across. "C'mon!" he yelled to Nicky, still huddling under the garden trough in shock.
"What're you doing?" Nicky demanded, scurrying out from the corner, but Judas wasn't really paying attention, instead, he was scanning about the carriage. "Hey!" Nicky demanded again.
"We need to get this evidence to the ZPD!" Judas replied, jogging forward to the lab section of the room, still glancing about as if looking for something.
"And how do you suppose we're going to do that?" Nicky snapped sarcastically. "This old rust-bucket isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Let's just take these and get out of here!" She picked up the case with the pistol and Night Howler pellets in one paw, and the Novicius file in the other.
"No!" Judas exclaimed as a loud crash echoed through the compartment from the shut door. Obviously one or more of the rams was back on his feet and trying to get back into the carriage. "We need to get it all back!" he insisted, darting through the door at the other end of the lab, the one Doug had disappeared through earlier. Nicky followed him, finding herself in a small control room, a pile of clothes in one corner indicating where Doug had changed into his protective suit.
One of the rams was now hammering repeatedly on the external door, furiously trying to break in. Another, one Nicky didn't recognise, had reached the open window with all the cables hanging out and was attempting to crawl in that way. He was obviously too surprised by the unexpected confrontation to think straight because the narrow window was too small for him to climb through, especially with all the cables in the way. 'Either that,' thought Nicky smugly, 'or he's really just that stupid.' She glanced back to Judas who was rapidly flipping switches and turning dials on the control panel.
"C'mon, Carrots!" She pleaded, "This train's not going…."
The panel suddenly lit up and a steady rumble sputtered into life in the floor. Judas quickly grabbed the central lever and turned it in its arc. The train shuddered into motion and began crawling along the track.
"…anywhere…" Nicky belatedly finished her sentence in surprise as the train continued to pick up speed. "Well, I'll be," she smiled, "miracles do happen!" Judas smiled smugly back at her and opened his mouth to speak when the railcar suddenly jerked throwing both mammals off balance. A loud snap reverberated through the air, accompanied by an agonised cry of pain and the sound of shattering glass. Alarmed, they both spun about to look back into the main lab room where the sound had come from.
Much of the refinement glassware and equipment lay in shattered ruins on the floor, and the work desk was a mess of shredded paper, much of it still floating in a chaotic storm through the air. The culprit of the damage was obvious to them both. In the centre of the floorspace, the large bundle of power cables lay in amongst the carnage they had caused after snapping under high tension. Nicky felt a momentary shiver at the thought of what the other end must have done to the ram trying to climb through the window. She shoved the thought away, knowing that if these mammals caught them, they'd both probably end up far worse than he had.
Clearly, the other rams had seen the damage to their friend, because the useless hammering on the outer door halted with a roar of anger and the terrifying sound of hoofbeats on the roof. Nicky gulped and glanced back at Judas. He nodded and cranked up the speed of the train with the lever. Outside, the open space of the junction cavern was abruptly left behind as they plunged into another tunnel on the other side, one with regular lights on the walls, showing that it was regularly used. Nicky hoped fervently that there wasn't a train coming the other way.
She didn't have time to reflect on that fear, however, as another crash sounded from the main compartment. With Judas occupied controlling the now speeding train car, Nicky looked back in time to see the other unknown ram dropping through the roof hatch he had just smashed in. He charged.
With lightning reflexes, Nicky slammed shut the door to the conductor's room and bolted it just in time for the ram to smash head-first into the steel door, leaving a considerable dent in the metal. Nicky frowned in worry. The door likely wouldn't hold up to too much more of that sort of punishment. She peered through the glass window to see the ram stagger back to his feet half-way down the carriage, a look of pure rage and hatred in his beady eyes. She stepped back and prayed desperately that the door would hold long enough.
Another loud smash filled the air of the control room as glass from one of the front window panes shattered inward, showering both Judas and Nicky with sharp fragments. Nicky yelped out in pain and surprise as she felt the glass scratch across her back and head. She spun about to see Doug's scowling face hanging upside down from the roof, one arm thrust through the broken window and his hoof on the acceleration lever. He'd managed to force it back, slowing the train down, but Judas fought against him with his entire body, preventing Doug from slowing the train down further. Blood trickled from numerous shallow cuts on both Judas' arms and face, the sharp, metallic scent filling the air and turning Nicky's stomach.
The closed door behind her shuddered again under another tremendous impact as the trapped ram intentionally ploughed into it with a dull thud. A large crack shot through the glass pane set in the door. Her gaze shifting rapidly between both furious mammals she and Judas were trapped between, an idea suddenly presented itself to her. She grabbed the bolt to the door.
"Watch out, Fluff!" she shouted, eyes fixed on the ram behind the fractured glass, "I've got this!" This time, when the ram charged the door again, she ripped it open at the last second, not giving him any time to slow down when the expected obstacle suddenly disappeared. Instead, he flew through past Nicky, halfway through the glass window in the front, and into Doug, knocking him off the roof of the train towards the track. The plan would have worked brilliantly too, if Doug hadn't chosen the last possible second to grab hold of Judas instead of the accelerator.
Judas blinked away the blood trickling into his right eye and tried his best to ignore the stinging from the multiple cuts on his arms and face. The cuts weren't serious, but they were certainly distracting, and right now, as he strained with his entire body against the acceleration lever, he couldn't risk any distraction. If Doug managed to bring the train to a stop, Judas knew that he and Nicky would be sitting ducks, and would likely disappear without a trace. So, reverting to one of the lessons he learnt at the academy, Judas narrowed his focus to the task at paw. Get the train to the ZPD. He blocked out the pain, and his hammering pulse. He tuned out the thudding of the other ram smashing into the door. He barely even noted Nicky's frantic warning. His entire world narrowed to the control board in front of him, and the scowling ram hanging in front of the window.
Their struggle for supremacy was all that mattered to either mammal. First Doug would manage to force the lever back a fraction, just a few millimetres, a gleam of triumph in his beady eyes. Then, straining every muscle in his arms, Judas would push it back, sometimes to where it had been, other times a touch further, wiping the satisfaction from Doug's face. But Judas knew he couldn't keep this struggle up for long. Not in a direct confrontation of strength against a mammal so much larger and stronger than himself. At the academy, he'd learnt how to use his own strengths to his advantage, and to think his way around obstacles, but he just didn't have those options here. There was nothing for him to brace his powerful legs against to give him the advantage, and there was precious little else about for him to use. All he could do was hope that he could hold out long enough for Nicky to help, or Doug to give up. So, he ignored the building tremors in his arms, and kept holding out.
It seemed, however, that Doug wasn't happy to just hang about and fight over the lever all day, and he suddenly let go, causing Judas to stagger forward, slamming the lever into the maximum position. Instead, Doug grabbed Judas by the wrist, and began to pull him towards himself.
Normally, Judas would've been able to use that to his advantage, but as he watched Nicky open the door to the charging ram through the corner of his eye, Judas realised that this would not be one of those times.
The ram struck the door.
Judas' arm felt like it was about to be pulled out of its socket under the huge acceleration he felt as Doug went flying through the air from the sudden impact. Judas wasn't far behind, dragged through the narrow window, clipping the rim heavily on the way out before Doug loosened his grip. 'That'll leave a bruise,' he thought absently while his paws flailed about for any kind of hold to halt his mad flight through the air.
His left paw caught something smooth and curved, and clutched reflexively about it, barely hanging on as his forwards momentum swung him around in an arc. His body slammed back into the front of the train, now facing inwards to where Nicky stared out at him in abject terror. She pointed up, just above his head. He looked up and realised in surprise that he was hanging from one of the horns of the ram that had charged the window. He was just regaining consciousness.
"Carrot sticks!" he muttered, just as the trapped ram noticed him. With a murderous gleam in his eyes and a snort of rage, the ram flicked his head, sending Judas flying up towards the rapidly passing roof. Again, finding himself flying through the air, Judas shot out a paw, catching the lip of the train roof and spun his body around, narrowly avoiding being wiped out by a passing warning light. He noticed worriedly that the light was flashing an ominous red.
"Stop! Stop the train!" came a desperate shout from the tracks below. Judas peered over the edge to see Doug sprinting for all he was worth. Evidently, during their struggle, the train had slowed enough to allow him enough time to regain his footing after being catapulted out the window, but now the train was rapidly picking up speed again. There was no way the train could slow down soon enough, and the distance was rapidly closing.
Doug must've came to the same conclusion, because he suddenly dove to the side of the tunnel, hoping to escape that way. He hit the corner of the train.
His scream of pain was abruptly cut off by a sickening crunch followed by a rolling "Thud-ud-ud-ud," as the ram's body tumbled and rolled along the wall, sandwiched by the side of the train. Judas cringed at the sound and hoped the mammal survived. He may have been a criminal, but Judas still didn't want anyone dead. Besides, his testimony could prove invaluable in court.
Judas was flash blinded as the train shot out of the end of the tunnel back into the bright sunlight of the Downtown rail nexus. A strangled yell of alarm from the remaining ram forced his attention back to the track in front of them. Frantically blinking away the bleariness from the rapid adjustment, he soon made out the train rapidly approaching them on the same track.
"Nicky!" he yelled down through the smashed windshield, "There's a train coming!" As if to punctuate his statement, the approaching train blasted its horn, nearly deafening Judas in the process. Sparks flew from their wheels as the other train slammed on their emergency brakes. Quickly judging both their speed, and the speed of the newer, rhinoceros shaped, train, Judas quickly concluded that neither would be able to slow down fast enough to avoid a collision.
"We need to turn right!" Nicky shouted back at Judas through the window, both of them ignoring the hysteric screams from the pinned ram as he struggled to free himself. Judas looked to where Nicky was pointing out the window and saw their only possible chance of salvation. Just ahead, the track branched away to the right towards a disused building, yellow and black signs indicating a closed track. Still, it was their only option, and Judas rapidly flicked his eyes along the path before them. A track lever was rapidly approaching.
Without a second thought, Judas lept into action, swinging down the rusted side rail of a ladder set into the front of the train, ignoring the searing pain as shards of rust tore into his paw.
"This train is not taking passengers!" he shouted gleefully as he swung his legs forward, kicking the ram free from the window frame and shooting him right into the track lever. A section of track shifted direction just in time for their train car to barrel down the new path allowing the approaching train to miss them by less than a meter. Judas briefly met eyes with the stunned looking beaver driving the other train before his own speeding train took them out of sight. Judas turned his head towards Nicky again, a victorious smile breaking over his muzzle. Then he felt the train start to tilt as they hit the corner.
"Too fast! Toofasttoofast!" Nicky started screaming as the tilt increased, passing the point of no-return.
"Oh, shit," Judas whispered to himself, climbing onto the frame of the broken window as the train derailed, slamming onto its side at the end of the corner. Now that they were travelling straight, the train's inertia carried the train along the tracks into the cavernous opening of a building straddling the rails. Judas could see a platform ahead and to the right, but only a solid concrete wall directly ahead.
"Quick, Nicky!" he stuck his head into the cabin of the train where the fox had been thrown to the wall when the train had tipped over. "We need to jump!" He held out a paw to help the vixen up to the window ledge, glancing nervously back into the wrecked interior of the carriage. Sparks were flying from the rapidly heating wall and broken equipment. Several propane tanks rolled about dangerously, and he swore he could hear the hiss of one of them leaking.
Nicky grabbed his paw and heaved herself up next to the rabbit. Judas looked forwards to the rapidly approaching platform and dead end.
"One," he counted out loud.
"Two," Nicky counted with him this time.
"Three!" they shouted simultaneously, and both lept from the crashed train, tumbling onto the rough concrete of the platform with enough force to send them sprawling.
The train slammed into the concrete wall with a tremendous screeching thud, entirely crumpling the front portion where Nicky and Judas had been only seconds before. Shattered glass and twisted metal splayed outwards like the skin of an overripe tomato dropped on the ground. The rear end lifted into the air with the impact before settling back to the ground with a secondary crash.
"That was too close!" Nicky panted, staring at the wreck.
The train erupted into an enormous fireball as the ruptured gas tanks ignited. The explosive sound of the shockwave set Judas' ears ringing right before a ferocious wave of heat blasted the pair, scorching their lungs and noses. Burning shrapnel flew through the air leaving twisted trails of smoke behind them as the small mammals cowered in fear and shock.
Both Judas and Nicole kept themselves covered until the mayhem finally died down. Judas stared in shocked silence at the burning carnage before him. "Gone," he whispered, regaining his voice. "All of it. All the evidence," his ears hung back in defeat. "It's all gone!"
"Yeah," Nicky replied, crawling next to where Judas had landed. "Oh, except for these of course," she smiled, holding up the briefcase containing Doug's gun and pellets, and the tan folder she had picked up. Judas looked between the vixen and the items in her paws in astonishment. In their escape from the train, he'd completely forgotten about both and hadn't seen Nicky carrying them either.
"Oh, Nicky!" he yelled in delight, wrapping his arms about her in a bearhug, "Thank you!"
"Ouch!" Nicky exclaimed, Judas' enthusiasm highlighting several new bruises that she'd picked up somewhere in their mad chase. Judas let go sheepishly and jumped to his feet.
"Come on, Nicky," he smiled, offering her a paw, "we need to get these to the ZPD!" The moment she took his paw, however, he hissed in pain, and snatched it away again, realising too late that it was the same one he'd used to slide down the ladder with and it was covered in cuts and scrapes.
"I think we'll need to both get to the hospital after that," Nicky stated, gingerly pulling herself to her feet, cringing at the multiple spikes of pain lancing through her body.
"Agreed," Judas grimaced, shaking his paw out. They both glanced back to the burning wreck in dismay. Shrugging her shoulders in acceptance, Nicky nodded to the staircase leading away from the platform and into the gloomy building, strange shapes barely visible in the murky opening. Judas took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, turning from the inferno and led the way forwards, determination written on his face.
Jesse Flocker groaned as he sat up next to the train tracks. His stomach felt badly bruised, and he was sure he'd probably broken several ribs when he'd slammed into the track lever. He watched as the lab car shot down the side branch of track and began to tip over. At the moment, all he wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep, but he still had a job to do. He fished his phone out of his pocket, and was glad that, although the screen was cracked, it still turned on. He dialled a number and listened to the dial tone, meanwhile watching in increasing horror as a bright explosion lit up the dull interior of the building the train had disappeared into.
"Hello?" came a female voice from the phone's speaker.
"It's Jesse," he replied through gritted teeth. "You need to get to the Museum. Fast. And bring back up."
"What? Why?" she demanded angrily.
"You'll see when you get there," he groaned. A fresh wave of pain wracked his body as the shock began to wear off. Darkness began to crowd in around the edges of his vision. "Trouble," he mumbled, slumping back to the ground. He saw a beaver in a conductor's uniform running towards him from a nearby stopped train. He ended the call, and allowed the darkness to close in over him.
Nicky stumbled after Judas as he bounded up the stairs into the dilapidated Museum of Natural History. Nicky had pointed this branch of tracks out to Judas, not just as a way to evade the approaching train, but because the museum fronted onto the same open square as the ZPD headquarters did. She looked around at the old exhibits they passed, remembering a time, long ago, when she'd visited them all on a school excursion. They had all seemed so bright and exciting back then to the wide-eyed kit she had been, but now, shrouded under layers of dust and wreathed in shadows, they were dull, and held a nightmarish quality to them. She shuffled closer to Judas.
"I really wanted to visit here when I moved to Zootopia," Judas said in a hushed voice, staring about in awe. Many of the exhibits were far larger than either mammal, and they almost felt as if they were lost in a land of frozen giants.
"It's a lot nicer with the lights on," Nicky murmured, sidestepping around a cordoned off patch of ground where the tiles had all been pulled up. "And without all these renovations going on."
"Maybe we should come back when they're done then," Judas said, starting up the next flight of stairs to where they could see natural light filtering down. Nicky smiled at the suggestion, considering the idea of doing something normal with the crazy rabbit beside her, and decided she really liked the thought.
They emerged from the gloom into a large hall at the top of the staircase where bright sunlight shone down through the glass dome in the ceiling. Across the hall, they could see more light through the murky glass doors. The street, and the ZPD, were almost within reach.
Basking in the warm glow, Nicky turned to Judas but her bright smile died on her lips as she saw the state he was in. His rustic farm-clothes (as she thought of them) were torn and blackened by a combination of grease, soot and dirt. His fur was similarly dirtied as well as ruffled and matted with streaks of dried blood on his face and arms. Blood was slowly dripping from his damaged right paw onto the floor, and several dark bruises were already becoming visible on his arms and legs. The look of surprise and worry on his face as he turned to her made her think that she probably didn't look much better herself.
"We both look like hell," she snorted grimly.
"Are you going to be alright?" Judas asked her concernedly, ears drooping down against the back of his head.
"Believe it or not," Nicky answered, moving forwards slowly again with a smile, "I've been in worse shape before." 'Although,' she added to herself, 'not by much.'
They continued forwards in silence for a few minutes before Judas suddenly stopped, ears flicking up with interest. It wasn't long before Nicky heard what had caught his interest as hurried hoofsteps echoed down the hall. Before long, the source of the sound rounded a corner and out of a corridor stepped Mayor Bellwether flanked by a pair of rams in police uniform.
If she was surprised to see Judas and Nicky standing in the middle of the hall, both looking as if they'd just staggered out of a warzone, Bellwether didn't show it. Instead, she turned with a bright smile and trotted towards them, her bodyguards following close behind, faces bland with disinterest.
"Officer Hopps!" she called sweetly. Nicky felt the fur on the back of her neck begin to prickle.
"Mayor Bellwether?" Judas replied in confusion.
"Judas! I'm so proud of what you've done!" she gushed, ignoring the confused looks on both their faces as she reached them. "But look at you both! You look terrible! Here, let me take those from you and we'll get you looked after!" she reached out towards the case and folder in Nicky's paws. Nicky held onto them.
"We need to get these to the ZPD," Judas said cautiously. Both Nicky and Judas had caught the momentary twinge on the ewe's face when Nicky had refused to hand over the items.
"We'll make sure it gets there," Bellwether insisted, the smile on her face having lost some of its sparkle. Her guards loomed closer behind her.
"Thanks," Judas replied slowly, "but we'll be right to take it there." Nicky noticed him subtly shift his weight to his back foot. Evidently so did the mayor. Her smile shifted ever so slightly, and suddenly, she was no longer a sweet ewe, but a dangerous mammal. One with blood on her mind.
"Run," Judas and Nicky said simultaneously, and they bolted.
"Get 'em," Dawn instructed her guards, grinning hungrily. Both rams lumbered forwards, slowly gaining speed as they chased after their smaller prey.
Nicky directed Judas down the staircase they'd just climbed, back into the gloom below. She hoped that the shadows might just give them the chance for escape that they needed. Unfortunately, there was still enough light filtering in from the occasional window, or emitted by emergency exit signs that the pair of rams had no trouble following the pair. Even worse, Nicky realised, was the fact that she and Judas were both injured and exhausted, while the rams pursuing them were fresh and unhindered by injury.
"We need… to get… out… of here!" Judas panted to Nicky as they skittered around a corner, knocking over bollards and toolboxes when their hindpaws slipped on the smooth ground. Nicky nodded mutely, too busy trying to catch her breath to speak. She raised her paw, pointing to the next corner they should take, planning on bringing them back to the main entry hall they'd been in moments before. Hopefully they'd be able to get past Bellwether and onto the street before she could stop them. She quickened her pace, trying to catch Judas as she heard a crash close behind her.
They reached the next corner and she dug her hindclaws into the smooth tiles to generate more traction as she took the corner at speed.
A loud "Crack!" rent the air, echoing down the hallways, followed immediately by a sharp cry of pain.
Nicky slammed into the wall on the other side of the corridor as she looked back in horror to see Judas crumpled on the floor, a smear of bright red blood streaking the floor where he'd skidded after falling.
"FOOLS!" Bellwether screamed, momentarily bringing the rams to a halt. Nicky took the opportunity to grab Judas, and carried him as she dashed behind an exhibit surrounded by wooden crates.
"NO GUNS!" the mayor berated her guards. "Do you want the rest of the ZPD to turn up here? Now find those two and bring them to me!"
Nicky sat the unconscious Judas down against a large statue that was part of the exhibit they were hiding in. There was blood everywhere. She frantically checked everywhere for the bullet wound, relieved when she didn't find it in his head or chest. But when she touched his left leg, he let out a low moan and began to wake up.
Quickly, Nicky placed her paw over Judas' mouth to stifle the inevitable cries as pain shot through his leg. She bent to his ear and whispered urgently, "You need to stay quiet, okay, Carrots? Otherwise they'll find us." She used her free paw to gently stroke his ears, trying to calm him down. It seemed to work, because Judas nodded his head in understanding, his eyes screwed shut against the pain.
Reluctantly, Nicky took her bloodied paws away from Judas' head and bent to inspect his leg. The blood was flowing cleanly from a small circular hole in the back of his calf. A quick glance told the vixen that the bullet had gone clean through, and luckily for the rabbit hadn't impacted any bones. But he was still bleeding, and if she didn't at least slow the flow down soon, Judas would be in a very bad condition.
She ripped her pawbag off her shoulder and emptied the contents on the floor as quietly as she could. Her phone, sunglasses, lipstick, blueberries, scarf and much more tumbled out to form a varied mess of female belongings on the ground. But, it wasn't until she started trying to search through it all that she noticed how blurry her vision had become. She swiped away the tears streaming down her face with the back of her paw and found what she was looking for.
Working carefully but quickly, she wrapped her silk scarf tightly around the wound several times before tying it off, cringing alongside Judas every time he let out a small moan. Looking back to her pile of belongings she considered giving the rabbit some aspirin to deaden the pain, but decided against it. It would take too long to come in to effect, and hopefully by that time the ambulance would be able to treat him. Instead, she gently placed her paws on either side of his face and placed her forehead against his.
"It'll be alright, Fluff," she crooned gently staring into his blue eyes. "We'll get out of here soon, and then everything will be good again." She wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure more, Judas, or herself.
Judas mumbled something past his gritted teeth, but Nicole couldn't make out the words.
"What was that, Carrots?" she whispered gently.
"Get those… to the ZPD!" he forced out between gasps for breath. Nicky pulled back from Judas' face with a look of fear and anger on her face.
"I'm not about to leave you, Judas!" she shot back, barely restraining herself to a hushed voice.
"I can't walk!" Judas glared at her. "I'll only slow you down!"
"Too bad," Nicky replied stonily. "Either we wait here for them to find us, or we go together." Judas fixed her with a fierce stare, but she met it with her own unwavering gaze. Finally, he gave in with a sharp nod. "Good," Nicky smiled, eying her mess spread over the floor. "Now that that's settled, I have an idea."
"You ready?" Nicky whispered to Judas, Doug's briefcase clutched tightly in her left paw. The rabbit had his left arm wrapped around the vixen's neck and the file in his right paw. Standing on his right leg only, he turned to her with gritted teeth.
"As ready as I'll ever be." They both took a deep breath, and broke cover in a mad, three-legged dash for the front doors.
"There they are!" Nicky heard Bellwether scream shrilly. "Get them!" Nicky ignored the nearing thunder of hoofbeats, and Judas' yelps of pain with each step and strained to push them both as fast as they could move. But she knew it wouldn't be fast enough.
Halfway across the hall, they were caught by one of the mayor's uniformed guards as they passed a central display pit. Usually, this exhibit, displaying a spotted deer doe drinking peacefully at a stream, would be topped with glass, but that had obviously been removed during the renovations. Now, only a series of plastic bollards joined by caution tape ringed the cavity to prevent mammals falling in.
Anticipating the coming collision as she watched the ram rapidly approach from the corner of her eye, Nicky braced herself before the ram slammed side-on into her, sending the pair flying. Having lost hold of the briefcase in the impact, Nicky wrapped both arms about the injured rabbit and curled about him as they landed heavily, protecting his damaged leg from further injury.
The pair rolled to a stop in the middle of the enclosure, and Nicky staggered to her feet. Judas lay whimpering on the ground, too sore to move.
"Oh, how adorable," came a falsely cheery voice from the edge of the circular pit. Nicky looked up to see the Mayor holding the briefcase she had let go of during their fall into the pit. "Too bad this fairy-tale romance has to end so soon," Dawn Bellwether sneered down at the vixen. Four burly rams in ZPD blue ambled up to join her on the rim of the exhibit, and Nicky realised there must have been more in the museum than they had originally seen.
"Why're you doing this, you sick ewe!" Nicky spat back up at the spectators.
"Why!" exclaimed in false surprise. "I thought that would've been obvious, bitch," she grinned. "You found me out! I'm behind all the savage attacks! Oopsies!" The mayor giggled happily.
"No!" Nicky growled, "I mean, why are you doing any of this! Why do you hate predators so much?"
"Oh, I don't hate predators, bitch. Not at all!" She giggled again at the look of confusion on the vixen's face. "I just love power," a mad glint entered her eyes, sending a chill down Nicole's spine.
"And what better way to gain power," she stared off into space and continued condescendingly, as if explaining a simple concept to a child, "than to focus everybody else's fears on a common enemy! Think about it, ninety percent of the population united by fear against a dangerous minority. And only I can provide safety! Before long, the entire Federation will be under my rule!" She laughed again and returned her murderous eyes to Nicky. "I'll be unstoppable!" she crowed.
"You filthy Butcher!" Nicky screamed in rage, startling all the sheep above with the vehemence of her curse. "You'd kill and dart all those innocent mammals just so you can hold power?"
"Pretty much," she smiled, all mirth gone from her face as she opened the case to pull out the dart gun. "And once you've made a meal of your cute little boyfriend there, you'll be put down like the rest of all those 'dangerous savages'. Oh, don't worry," she reassured Nicky as the fox began fearfully looking about for somewhere to hide, "I've been told that you'll remember every juicy little detail!" She raised the dart gun and fired.
Unnoticed by both women, Judas had slowly uncurled himself during their heated exchange, waiting for an opportunity to spring into action. Despite having a bullet wound to his leg, the rabbit refused to quit, and the moment Bellwether raised the gun, he knew it was his time to act. With a strangled shout of defiance, the former cop lept from his crouched position on the ground into the path of the dart, shielding Nicky from the toxin. He felt the hard, solid impact of the capsule as it exploded on his cheek, splattering his face with sticky, blue liquid. He hit the ground again, crying out in agony as his leg was jolted by the landing. Already, he could feel the serum entering his bloodstream and affecting his body. The pain from his leg, injured paw and other minor cuts and scrapes were already becoming little more than dull throbs. Sounds blurred and became indistinct and without meaning. His heart began to pound faster against his chest.
He felt himself raise up onto four paws without realising what he was doing. A low growl emanated from his throat.
'Um, okay. That's not quite what I expected,' he thought, trying to calm himself down. Instead, his head flicked to the side, attracted by a sudden motion. A vixen stood staring at him in shock. He took a step forward and bared his teeth. The growl deepened.
'Ah, that's Nicky,' he nervously told himself, straining against the muscles in his arms and legs that kept moving him forward pace by pace. 'She's a friend!' he yelled at himself in fear as he felt what little control he still held slipping further away with each step he took. He was forced to watch from a distant corner of his mind in horror as Nicky backed away from the rabbit, fear growing on her face. He could vaguely hear laughter from above and behind him, but took little notice of it.
'Enemy. Attack.'
'No! Friend!' Judas shouted back mentally at the new voice that sprang up in his mind.
'Attack. Kill!' Judas stalked closer towards Nicky.
'NOOOOOOO!' he screamed as Nicky tripped over and landed on her back, her face a mask of terror.
Judas pounced.
"Judas?" Nicky stepped forwards nervously towards the rabbit who was just clambering to his feet. 'All four of them,' she noted in concern. "Are you alright?" The rabbit's head swung sharply towards the approaching vixen, his pupils contracted to unnatural vertical slits and his ears were flattened back against his scalp. He started growling.
"Oh, my!" Bellwether exclaimed in interest. "What have we here? A savage prey? Oh, I want to see what happens next!" she clapped her hooves together excitedly. Nicky ignored the ewe, focussing her attention solely on the mammal before her. She'd seen Judas do some rather impressive feats before, but right now, she felt downright intimidated by the display he was giving. Her ears flicked back against her skull and she took a careful pace back as Judas began to slowly move forwards, his prowling not dissimilar to that of an ancient cat's.
The rabbit continued to advance on Nicky, and she began to scramble backwards with increasing desperation, all the time chased by the mocking laughter from the hall above the pit.
"And the predator becomes the prey!" Bellwether laughed as Nicky retreated, now freely panicking.
"Run, foxy. Run!" sneered one of her guards, eliciting more laughs from the other three.
"Judas!" Nicky pleaded, both paws open and extended towards the rabbit in surrender. "Please stop! It's me! Nicky!" Judas broke into a slow trot, buckteeth bared in a frightening snarl. Nicky quickened her own pace, but tripped on a polystyrene rock and landed heavily on her back. "Judas! NO!" she screamed as the rabbit lept forwards, covering the remaining separation in an instant.
Nicky threw up her arms to protect her face as the crazed rabbit landed on her, narrowly avoiding having her eyes clawed out as he raked her at her with his stubby nails. He snapped his jaws shut less than an inch from her snout, spraying her with saliva, as she tried to dislodge him, but only managed to shift him upwards.
Changing targets, the savage rabbit latched on to the next thing he saw, biting down hard on Nicky's left ear.
"Arrrgghh!" Nicky screamed in agony as Judas swung his head back and forth with his jaws still clamped down. His front teeth designed for biting through vegetables and not for cutting flesh were having a hard time with tearing Nicky's ear off, but he was still causing the sensitive tissue enormous amounts of pain.
Blood splattered all over Nicky's face and arms again, this time a mix of her own from fresh injuries, and Judas' from his wounded leg and paw. 'That's it!' Nicky realised in a moment of clarity amidst the pain.
"Sorry, Carrots," she muttered through clenched teeth, and swung her knee up into Judas' leg. The rabbit instantly let go of her ear with a yelp of pain. Nicky grasped the moment of distraction, simultaneously twisting away, and pushing against Judas with all her might. This time it was enough, and she sent him tumbling into the stuffed display deer. He yelped with pain again as his injured leg was jolted in the collision. Nicky cringed in sympathy and staggered to her feet, holding one paw to her bleeding ear.
"Enough playing around," Dawn Bellwether called out again, her voice cold and dead. Judas had begun to attack the facsimile deer ferociously, its stuffing spilling from scratches and holes torn in his rage. "It's time to finish this." Dawn raised her dart gun again and aimed at Nicky's battered form. "Bye, bye, bitch," she tightened her hoof around the trigger.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" a deep voice roared through the hall, startling every mammal within earshot, causing the mayor's shot to go wide and miss Nicky by a hair's breadth. The capsule splattered harmlessly on the floor behind her. Judas went on, madly disembowelling the display deer, completely unfazed by the explosion of sound.
"Chief Bogo?" Bellwether squeaked in astonishment. Nicky detected a trace of fear in her voice. "Come quick!" she called, recovering quickly. "There's a savage fox in that pit with Officer Hopps! You need to help him!"
"That's not what it looks like to me," growled a new voice that Nicky vaguely recognised. A wolf slowly approached the pit from behind Bellwether and her guards. He was wearing full tactical police uniform and a fierce snarl on his muzzle. "It looks more like a savage rabbit to me," Brian Wolford finished, fixing his stare on the ewe. A tigress stepped up beside him, carrying a scoped rifle. She raised the barrel quickly and shot off a round into the pit before any of the startled sheep could stop her. A feathered dart pierced Judas' hide just as he turned to face Nicky again, the deer no more than a pile of stuffing on the ground behind him. Before he could take so much as a step towards her, Judas stumbled, and then collapsed in an unconscious heap on the ground.
"What is the meaning of this, Bogo?" Bellwether demanded, shooting a dirty glare at the buffalo that just came into view of the fox. "All predator officers are on suspension! I demand you send them all away now!" More officers in full uniform came into Nicky's view around the rim of the pit, predators and prey alike, all with matching faces of disgust and hostility.
"I'll do no such thing," the towering buffalo glowered down at the ewe. Bellwether stood her ground before the police chief, and Nicky decided she must either be one of the bravest mammals she'd ever seen, or one of the dumbest.
"This is treason!" she yelled in defiance, not noticing how her own guards were slowly backing away from her, raising their arms in surrender. Bogo's brow somehow furrowed deeper, and Nicky was sure that if it continued much longer, the very ground the sheep were standing upon would melt away under the heat of his gaze.
"No," he ground out slowly, "It's justice. Mayor Bellwether, you are under arrest for conspiracy. Conspiracy to commit murder, treason, and terrorist acts against both the state and the Federation. And," he lowered his voice to a dangerous growl, "you're under arrest for pissing me off."
"You have no proof!" she screeched, spittle flying from her mouth.
"Oh, I have all the proof I need," he smiled dangerously, the change in expression being the first thing to cause the ewe's countenance to falter. Bogo held up his personal smartphone, open to the ZNN live-stream app. The footage showed a simple washed out blue colour of the sky visible through the glass roof, but the audio was clearly playing a slightly delayed echo of everything said in the room.
"Thanks to those two," the chief pointed down into the pit. For the first time, Dawn Bellwether noticed the phone laying face-up in the centre of the enclosure. It was set to video call. Bogo continued as the ewe's shoulders finally sagged in defeat, "the entire city has all the proof it needs."
"No…" she whispered in defeat. "It can't… I was so close!" She buried her face in her hooves and began to sob. Bogo snorted and motioned a lion officer forwards to cuff her while other officers dealt with the rams.
"Lovely timing and all, Chief," Nicky called up from the exhibit, "but Judas was shot! He needs help immediately!" she stumbled over to where Judas lay in a crumpled mess on the floor. Blood was again pouring freely from his leg as the scarf had come undone during their fight. She felt his pulse, and found it far weaker than it should have been. "Hurry! Please!" she shouted in desperation.
Author's Note:
Well, I bet you all thought you knew where that was going! If so, I hope I gave you a nice little surprise there! :P
Firstly, I know that this is the sort of chapter that would usually be one to sort the wheat from the chaff in terms of writing capabilities, so if you have any suggestions or pointers as to how I could improve the flow of my writing for this sort of chapter, I'd be glad to hear them! (Bland platitudes are rather pointless here as they don't give me much to go on!)
Other than than, thanks for waiting for me to get this one together! It is easily my longest chapter to date (over 10 000 words and almost half of that in one day!), and I had a blast writing it. I will admit though, that I probably could have had it finished sooner if I hadn't fallen into the biggest trap for any writer - a good book (or three in my case)! If you are still enjoying my drivels, then never fear, because there is still quite a bit of story left to tell, but my pace may drop a little bit again with everything I've got going on. Sorry, but that's unavoidable.
Lastly, I just want to mention the title of the file Nicky found in the train car, Novicius. It's a Latin word and is one of many possible Latin translations of the English word, 'new', more specifically the newness of something. My intention is that Bellwether was looking for a new social structure, and a new world order. Perhaps, though, it is also important to note that another possible rendering of Novicius (at least according to the internet) is 'newly enslaved'...