The huge mutated mammals fell on the convoy like a tsunami, sudden and terrible. Small caliber rounds didn't seem to affect them, and the mounted guns didn't have a chance to orient on the them before the impossibly fast monsters had pounced, landing on the trucks and tearing the gunners apart. Those inside the vehicles were not much safer, as windows were smashed and doors ripped off their mounts by the Hunters' monstrous strength, exposing the hapless soldiers inside.
Wearing the black fatigues she preferred while doing dirty work, Inga Volpe giggled and gasped in delight as she rode her three thousand pound mutant thylacine through the chaos. Just ahead of her a lion jumped from his transport truck, completely focused in the wrong direction. With just a tap on the shoulder as a signal, Inga's mount leapt forward twenty feet and landed just behind the distracted cat. Quick as a viper, the huge, long, narrow jaws clamped around the soldier's middle. Blood splattered the ground, the unfortunate victim screaming in surprise and agony as he was lifted into the air by the monstrous maw. With a shake of its huge head the thylacine bit through the poor soul, cleaving him in two. The separate halves flew apart to land on the pavement with meaty thuds while the white furred vixen clapped her paws and laughed at the gory display.
"Very good, Killer! Who's momma's best? It's you!" Inga spoke to the monstrosity like it was a pet, reaching forward to pat the beast's meaty shoulder. The monster snorted, indifferent to his owner's praise. The white fox sat up in the saddle her red eyed benefactor had provided (Inga would never know why he seemed to enjoy showering gifts on his 'Pet', but, like any good fox, she was perfectly willing to take advantage) and looked around. There were still a few survivors holding out in the vehicles, but she was confident that her vicious minions would take care of them momentarily.
Knowing that reinforcements would be there soon, she directed her mount to the back of the convoy, using Killer's tremendous strength to tear the doors off of the last transport in line. Not finding what she was looking for, the crazy fox moved on to the next, then the next. Her frustration grew as each failed to produce what she was looking for. After checking all of the trucks on the road Inga was ready to throw a fit. Where was he!?
Knowing she was out of time, the vixen raised a whistle from where it hung around her neck and blew into it. The beasts scattered into the woods, but she didn't worry about them running off. They would all return to base eventually. Inga turned her ride to make good on her own escape, muttering to herself irately.
"Unbelievable! Seven trucks and-! Wait. Seven?" The white fox stopped her mount before it could get entirely off the road, twisting in the saddle to take a look at the convoy as a whole. She carefully counted the transports, mismatched eyes widening as she realized something. One was missing! It occurred to her then that one had been thrown off the road, right at the beginning of the ambush.
Pulling on the reins, Inga directed her mount down the road towards the front of the caravan, where sharp eyes spotted some disturbed brush. Within moments Inga had located the crashed vehicle, jumping from her saddle and going into the mangled wreck. Spotting something, she knelt down and grabbed a set of manacles. The crazy fox brought them to her nose and took a deep breath, smiling as she recognized the scent of a male red fox, drenched in rabbit's blood. Mismatched eyes sparkled as she spoke in a sing-song voice.
"Found you~!"
Nick and Hannibal were running through the dense, dark woods, using their innate night vision to avoid obstacles like brush and low hanging branches.
"Hannibal, you know where we're going?" A few minutes had passed since they left the truck, and now Nick was starting to wonder if they had a heading. He tried to keep his voice down, as they weren't that far from the ambush and the dozens of monsters that had perpetrated it. No need to attract attention unnecessarily.
"Downhill." The aged soldier did not turn to his companion to answer, instead focusing entirely on the woods ahead. Getting eaten by mutants because he tripped over a root and broke an ankle would be an embarrassing way to end his career! Nick rolled his eyes at the answer.
"I know that. Why are we running down hill?" Now it was Hannibal's turn to roll his eyes. Couldn't this guy just focus on saving his breath?
"Because downhill leads to the river." The gray fox's voice was the same as before, but Nick detected just a hint of annoyance. Rather than pester his companion, he decided to puzzle out why they would want to move towards a river. After a few moments of running in silence the most likely answer came to him.
"You want follow the river back to Zootopia?" Nick sounded a little hopeful. If they returned to the city, there was chance he might see Judy. Even while running for his life, the thought made him warm inside.
"That's right." Hannibal stated matter-of-factly. Nick, satisfied that there was a plan, fell silent.
The two ran for a few minutes more, the gentle slope of the forest floor gradually increasing. Hannibal raised a paw suddenly, signaling a stop. He turned to find Nick was already looking back the way they came, ears pert and intent.
"You heard it?" The soldier's voice came softly, just loud enough to be understood. Nick nodded mutely, still focused on the trees. The sound of branches snapping and cracking was coming from afar. They both scanned the dark woods, a feeling of unease settling over them. The noise was getting louder and it was becoming obvious that something big was coming towards them. Hannibal cuffed Nick's shoulder to get his attention.
"C'mon. Standing out in the open won't help. We need to find cover!" The gray fox turned away, but paused when he noticed his companion didn't move to follow. He turned angrily back to the red fox, ready to grab him by the scruff if he had to. The soldier paused when Nick looked to him and shook his head.
"I don't think any cover we can find in the next thirty seconds is going to help us against one of these things. Let me try to kill it." Nick's voice was resolute, if not particularly confident. Hannibal's retort died on his lips when the red fox raised a paw and tapped a digit to his temple, clearly indicating his eyes. The reminder of what those eyes could do brought the veteran up short. Maybe letting the kid handle it was the best way. The gray fox nodded, locking eyes with his younger counterpart, communicating with his gaze how much trust he was putting in the red fox. When Nick nodded his understanding the older fox turned away, taking cover behind the nearest tree.
Nick faced towards where the racket was coming from and raised his rifle from where it hung by a strap over his shoulder. A green eye looked down the sights, the world brightening and resolving as he concentrated. Time seeming to slow, seconds ticking by, feeling like hours. Finally, his unnaturally sharp eyes spotted movement. A huge, hairless head appeared, the mutant leaping over some brush. It resembled a wolf with a freakishly long snout.
BANG! Nick's first shot hit it squarely between the eyes. The beast's momentum kept it going forward, but Nick waited to see if that bullet did the trick. As the beast came more fully into view, the red fox was shocked to see that it had a passenger. Fury spread through his system like an electric shock when he recognized Inga Volpe, the one responsible for attacking Judy's family and directly responsible for the death of many of her siblings and their father, Stu Hopps.
BANG! A slug slammed right into the arctic fox's sternum. He watched in slow motion as Inga's mismatched eyes widened in surprise and her paws loosened their grip on the reins. The mutant steed finally landed, the shock sending the white furred vixen flying from her saddle to land in the thick carpet of dead leaves on the forest floor. Apparently unaffected by the bullet lodged in its skull, the thylacine continued to charge forward. Nick reoriented his sights, looking for weaknesses in the rampaging beast. He found two.
BANG! The beast's right eye burst, drops of blood and ichor flying out of the ruined orb. The bullet exited the side of the monster's face, just below the ear. As the mutant reflexively turned its head away, Nick lined up the final shot.
BANG! The left eye exploded, but this time there was no exit wound. The bullet's trajectory changed when the monster turned its head and this time the round punched through the back of the eye socket and into the brain. The thylacine's momentum carried it nearly thirty feet before it crashed to the ground, where it thrashed violently. Nick watched it carefully, wanting to be sure that it really was put down. As the beast's death throes started to slow, the fox looked back to where Inga had fallen.
Nick's eyes widened and his ears flattened as he discovered the arctic vixen was no longer there.
Inga gulped and gasped as she sat against a big, old tree, pressing a paw to the bloody wound in her chest. She was using the tree's thick trunk to hide from that damnable red fox. She grit her teeth in fury as the lack of screaming told her what had probably happened to her beloved Killer. Her other paw raised the whistle hanging around neck to her lips and she took a deep, agonizing breath.
Nick was stomping towards where Inga had disappeared, determined not to let the vixen get away, when he suddenly stumbled and fell to his knees. His face twisted into a grimace, eyes clenched shut and paws dropped his gun to clamp his ears to his head, desperately trying to block out the piercing whistle. The note made his skull ring and it felt like his brains were trying to dribble out of his nose. When it finally stopped Nick's body slackened and he barely caught himself, shoving one paw into the dead leaves just before he would have face planted. He hardly had any time to collect himself before Hannibal was there, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him to his feet.
"You alright, son?" Nick barely had time to nod before the forest came alive with the sounds of many distant, terrible howls. The soldier didn't waste any time, immediately turning to face down hill again, pulling the protesting younger fox along.
"Wait! That other fox, she was the one that attacked Judy's family! I can't let her get away!" Nick tried to pull away, but Hannibal wasn't having it.
"You heard those things same as me! If we don't get out of here now, we will die! You think your girl will feel better if you kill yourself!?" Nick grit his teeth, hating the logic and unable to refute it. He snatched his arm from the soldier's grip, but he didn't turn back. Instead he ran beside him, letting the veteran lead him again through the dark woods.
Being chased by giant mutants was about as good a motivator as one could find, so the two made good time for several minutes. The slope they had been running down gradually got steeper and footing was starting to get tricky, slowing them down. The sound of of paws rapidly hitting the ground came from behind and both foxes glanced over their shoulders to spot another mutant. This one obviously used to be a big cat, probably a cheetah if its unbelievable speed was anything to go by.
Nick tried to stop and turn at the same time, paws going for the assault rifle still hanging on his hip, but his heel caught a root hidden in the leaves. The red fox was thrown off his feet, breath knocked out as he hit the ground and went tumbling down the hill. Hannibal tried to grab the flailing fox's paw as he passed, but the veteran was forced to dive to the side. Claws swiped through where the gray fox had just been, the speedy mutant having already gotten within pouncing range. The monster over-shot the two foxes, flying down the slope. It landed nearly forty feet away, claws tearing through the earth to gain traction.
Nick managed to dig his paws into the leaves and dirt, bringing himself to a halt on his front. The gun's strap was caught under his arm, with the gun itself sliding to a rest in front of his face. The fox lunged for his weapon and flipped over, bringing his sights to bear just as the giant, hairless cat regained its footing. Two quick shots destroyed its eyes and the creature, blinded, fell to the forest floor, clawing at its face and roaring furiously.
"Nick! Let's go!" The red fox glanced over and spotted Hannibal already running down the slope, angled away to avoid the thrashing mutant feline. Nick jumped from where he still lay on the ground, chasing after the gray fox faster than was probably wise, considering how easy it was to trip on the stones and roots hidden in the leaves.
Soon the crippled mutant was behind them, but its yowling was still easily heard. Two minutes later the foxes both flinched when they heard more mutants howling. Then something changed, the now familiar roaring of the blinded cheetah went up in pitch and volume. As the creature's screams echoed across the forest, the two glanced uneasily at each other as they ran.
"Are they…eating it?" Nick wondered aloud. Hannibal nodded grimly from where he ran just ahead.
"Its a good strategy for that mad scientist guy. No body, no evidence." The gray fox spoke frankly, not afraid to point out a good idea on the enemy's part, even if it was grotesque. The two focused on running, trying to ignore the monstrous sounds coming from behind. After a few seconds the screaming was cut off and the silence that followed was almost deafening. Moments later they both noticed a rushing sound. The two came to a halt at a ledge, the ground falling away steeply for about forty feet. Nick nearly jumped forward when he spotted water through the few trees hanging on to the steep shore, but Hannibal shot out a paw and caught his arm.
"Wait. We can't run through that and swimming will take too long. This way!" The gray fox turned left and took off, running parallel to the ledge that ran down to the river, the red fox only a few steps behind. Thirty seconds later they heard a mighty splash. Both turned their heads to spot a mutant floating in the river, thrashing as it was carried by the powerful current. Almost automatically, Nick raised his rifle and put a bullet in the creature's eye. It sank below the surface a few seconds later. Hannibal glanced back at Nick, giving the younger fox an approving nod.
Nick noticed the grey eyes slide passed him. The red fox looked over his shoulder, spotting what Hannibal noticed immediately. There was another mutant. Long and slender, it had a whiplike tail covered in bony spikes. It didn't rush towards the fleeing foxes, instead running parallel to them, careful to keep some trees or brush between them as cover.
Like that would save it. Nick hefted his gun, prepared to snipe out the beast's eyes as soon as they appeared passed the next tree. Focusing on his gun instead of running slowed him down, creating an opportunity for the creature. With an audible crack! it whipped its tail towards the trailing vulpine, unleashing three deadly thorns. At almost the same instant Nick fired his rifle, putting out the creature's eye. The fox was so focused on the beast that, even though he saw them, the bony barbs don't register until they are already within a few yards of him.
Focusing on the barbs, his amazing eyes tell him exactly where they will hit and when. Unable to bring his gun to bear in time, the fox moved to mitigate the damage. He tilted his head back, the first spike brushing against the fur on his cheek as it passed. He moved his leading leg down, but the second bony stake still tore open a gash along the front of his thigh. There was nothing Nick could do about the third oversized thorn.
Above them, the whip-tailed mutant, distracted by its wound, crashed head on into a tree. The terrible crunching sound as its skull met the bark could have been bone or wood. Either way, it went down and didn't get back up.
Hannibal watched, unable to react in time, as a sizable spike lodged itself in his companion's side, just above the hip. The red fox stumbled and fell, sliding to a halt on his front. The soldier stopped, immediately turning to run to his ally. As he crouched down, Nick turned on his side with a gasp, paw already wrapped around the inch-and-a-half diameter bone shard sticking into his side.
"Don't pull it out! You'll bleed to death." The veteran pulled away Nick's paw as gently as possible, then looked closely at the wound. Blood oozed up around the ivory spike, but not fast enough to be a problem, as long as it got looked at in the next few hours.
Hannibal's head snapped up as the sound of pounding feet came from behind. Experienced eyes zeroed in on a mutant running towards them, a canine snout drawn into a fearsome snarl. The veteran's pistol appeared in his grip so quickly that an inexperienced observer would have sworn the gun jumped to his paw. Knowing from watching Nick that accuracy was key, the fox held the piece with both paws, took his time, lined up the shot perfectly.
BANG! Both of the beast's eyes burst and it dipped sharply to the right, sending it down the steep slope and into the river, where it would thrash until it drowned. Hannibal glanced down at Nick just as he collapsed back to the dirt with a gasp, rifle dropping to his lap. The older fox crouched by his companion.
"You can still do that voodoo?" Rather than sounding surprised, the veteran's voice was impressed. It took more gumption than most mammals had to keep fighting while they had a piece of shrapnel as thick as their wrist lodged halfway through their guts. Nick managed a shaky nod and a smile.
"Y-you bet." The fox managed to croak. Hannibal smiled reassuringly.
"Shut up, Kid. You need to save your strength. I'll carry you, you shoot those bastards, alright? Now, this next part is going to hurt." Nick discovered that the soldier was not kidding at all. The older fox grabbed his wrist and pulled him up, the younger fox hollering as he was pulled across Hannibal's shoulders into a fireman's carry.
The gray fox started to jog, extra careful of his footing now that a tumble could mean the death of his companion. It took Nick several long, agonizing seconds to adjust to his new position, but he managed. His head rose from where it rested against the other fox's arm, green eyes squinting as he looked for his gun. He spotted it where it hung from its strap, bumping into Hannibal's back just above his tail as he moved. An entirely involuntary whine escaped as he stretched out his free paw to grab it, feeling like someone twisted the huge bone shard in his side. Nick let the gun hang in his grip as he raised his head to scan the woods behind them as the gray fox carried them.
The pair moved through the woods for a few minutes without sight or sound of the mutants. Hannibal noticed the current of the river next to them was picking up, going from swift to nearly roaring. Before he had a chance to worry about why that might be he felt his passenger stiffen, body shifting as he raised the rifle in one arm.
Even though it was awkward to do while being carried, Nick managed to look down his sights. Three canine mutants, all fairly similar in size and shape were running towards the foxes in a single file line. Green eyes dilated as he forced himself to focus through the pain. The fox found it to be easier than expected, though it did take longer than before to line up the shot.
BANG! BANG! The lead dog's eyes burst. It tried to skid to a halt, but the ones following crashed into it. The blinded mutant, confused and enraged, snapped at what it thought to be an attack, sinking huge fangs into its companion. The three monsters quickly began to tear each other apart, their fragile alliance shattered by the sight and smell of blood. Nick smirked at the sight.
"Heh. Still got it." His voice was tight from the pain, but there was no masking his satisfaction. He was getting pretty good at this! Except for the whole getting stabbed thing. That still sucked.
Hannibal didn't waste time with checking behind him, trusting his companion to cover them while he took them to safety. Just ahead he saw concrete through the trees. Maybe it was a park station? They might have a truck! The gray fox picked up the speed, moving as fast as he could without jostling his injured passenger too much.
The trees ended abruptly, revealing a hydroelectric dam laid out before them. Spotting a service ramp, Hannibal hurried over it. Now that he was on the dam itself, he could see the other side of the river. The gray fox smiled when he saw a dirt road leading up to the dam. Maybe they could find a vehicle after all?
Nick stiffened again, but Hannibal tried to ignore it. The red fox probably spotted another mutant. Nothing he couldn't handle. Then the paw on the arm he was holding started tapping his chest, urgently.
"Hannibal, this one's different, this one doesn't have any eyes!" There was no denying the note of alarm in the fox's voice. Hannibal turned around to see the biggest mutant they had encountered since their flight through the woods began. At least five thousand pounds, it had the body and head of a bear, but the nose was shockingly strange. It had over twenty fleshy tentacles ringing around the nostrils. The gray fox distantly recognized that they were very similar to the star-nosed mole. He also noted that where eye sockets should have been, there were only masses of thick scar tissue.
The creature was standing where they exited the woods, nose to the ground, sniffing furiously. It picked its head up and began to sprint after them, surprisingly quick for its immense size. Hannibal turned away and began running across the dam.
"Shoot the nose! That might blind it!" The gray fox ordered. Nick obliged, unloading five rounds into the red, fleshy snout. The creature shook its head and roared, but it did not slow down. Five more rounds had the same result.
"Its not working!" Panic was creeping into Nick's tone and Hannibal couldn't blame him. Their ability to blind their attackers had been the only thing keeping them ahead. Now that one of these freaks couldn't be blinded, they were in serious trouble.
"Try other weak spots! The face, the throat, anything!" Nick unloaded a round into each scarred socket, hoping to kill it like he had that first monster. It didn't seem like it even noticed. Next, he tried shooting several bullets into the same socket. Still nothing. Next he landed four shots in the same hole in the center of its forehead. No results. He tried to land a round in the ear canal, but when he pulled the trigger, there was only a click!
"Ammo!" Nick called urgently. Hannibal shifted Nick a bit to make it a one armed fireman's carry, using his freed paw to fish the spare magazine from his vest.
"Make it count! That's all we have!" The gray fox's voice was no less urgent than Nick's. The red fox struggled a moment with putting the mag in with only one paw. When he finally managed to get it in and raised his gun again the star nosed mutant bear was within fifty feet. Nick started looking for other solutions, green eyes drawn to the edge of the dam. He remembered Cliffside Asylum.
"Hannibal! Jump!" The gray fox was confused for a moment, but then he realised what Nick was asking.
"Are you crazy!? It's sui-!" Hannibal's denial was cut off.
"Jump or get mauled to death! Your choice!" Nick was hoping the gray fox chose soon because that bear/mole thing was almost-!
"AAAHH!" Hannibal turned sharply left and dove under the tall railing. They seemed to fly over the vast, empty space before gravity took hold, drawing them down, down, down, where the two foxes disappeared into the frothy white water at the base of the dam.