Chapter 27- An Entrance to Remember
"Nick, listen, I don't have long to explain- "
"Who is this?"
A pause.
"You didn't even put my number as one of your contacts?"
"What? Who are you?"
"It's your father, you twat!"
John angrily growled at his son's laziness. He looked around from where he was hiding; there was no one around him at the abandoned shed he had found. Not like anyone who wasn't nocturnal even could see him- he had disabled the lights around the shed he'd found, and in the nocturnal district underneath Zootopia, there was no light that wasn't artificial anyway.
"W-What…?" John heard though the phone. "But… you… the explosion…"
"Come on Nick, do you really think a little fireworks show like that was enough to take me out?" John tried to lighten his son up, but all he heard was silence through the receiver. The fox sighed. Back to business. "Anyway Nick, now's our chance. I figured the planners we found were fakes, but I managed to track a would-be assassin right to the boss' hideout itself. I'm sending you the location, have as many officers in the area but do not surround the building. Stay close, but not within a hundred feet of it, okay? Do it now, I'm moving as we speak. If you guys aren't there, I'm dead and you're dead too."
"Dad? Dad! Wait!" Nick cried on the other end.
John ended the call, then quickly texted him the coordinates. Nick tried calling him twice in the time it took to do so, but John denied both calls. Once the message was sent and received, John silently prayed that Nick would pull through for him, then pulled out his gun and put several holes in the device. The agency probably already had his location from the call, but that didn't matter anymore. He turned back to the shed and pulled the cover off the vehicle he had stolen to get out of the building- their ticket to resolving this whole mess. Once the cover was off, John opened the door, started the engine and pulled out of the shed, along the road towards the highway that would lead him straight to the Boss' hideout.
Meanwhile, Nick was staring at the message on his phone's screen, but the characters meant nothing to him. Nothing did. His mind was scrambled. His father was still alive.
"Nick? Is everything alright?" Came Judy's voice from beside him.
The fox didn't even look up. "That… was dad. Get everyone we can spare. Surround this building." Nick showed her the message on his phone. "I… I think I need a minute, Carrots… This could be it."
"What do you mean? This is what? And your dad is alive?" Judy asked, confused.
Nick suddenly sprang into action. "Gear, Judes! Get gear! Armor! Get ready for a fight!" He shouted, bolting out of the room for Bogo's office.
John would occasionally glance down at the other drivers that he passed. He got a kick out of their incredulous looks. Still, no one challenged or tried to stop him as he sped along, honking at whoever was in his way to move. They always did.
John looked up at the sky once the ramp had led him back onto the surface from the nocturnal district. It was night out, but the stars and the moon gave off much more light than the lamps down under. While those who lived there enjoyed it, John hated the district and hoped he wouldn't ever have to go back. Being in a giant cave, the fox almost felt buried alive. John shuddered at the thought.
"Why can't I drive?" Judy complained in the seat next to him. Her voice was somewhat skewed by the helmet she was wearing, and Nick thought that the bunny dressed in full combat gear looked adorable and ridiculous. If he told her that, she probably would've hit him hard enough to crash the car.
The entire force was speeding along as fast as they could, but everyone was scattered about. Nick saw a few other cruisers and trucks headed the same way, but making his way through the cars along the road was much easier than jostling for position among other police vehicles.
"You don't drive aggressively enough, Carrots," Nick explained with his usual cool demeanor. He flashed her a joking grin, but this was all an act and she knew it. Deep down, Nick was scared, almost as scared as he was hiding in that sack back at the building. Judy puffed angrily, but she could tell how he was feeling. She always could. The bunny put her paw over his and squeezed it comfortingly.
"I love you, Nick," she said, almost solemnly.
"Don't jinx us now, carrots. You bunnies, always so emotional," Nick replied, even though he wore a small smile on his face.
"…I love you too, Judy."
John was surprised he wasn't being shot at yet. He wasn't even being followed. He was sure he was being tracked, as his ride wasn't exactly inconspicuous, but he guessed that the organization had no idea what he was about to do. Based on the nature of the vehicle he was speeding along in, he didn't blame them: the plan was so poor, only an idiot would try it. Unfortunately for the Boss, John was desperate enough to resort to idiocy.
The fox sighed in relief as he approached the Boss' hideout and already saw several police cruisers and officers stationed around it. No doubt the Boss was panicking. John smiled at the thought. Some of the officers looked at him in surprise, but no one stopped him again. Not like they could at this point.
As John rounded the corner, the street that led to the hideout was completely empty- the police must've blocked traffic off. This just made John's job even easier. The fox said a silent prayer to whatever providence had been protecting him thus far, then gunned the engine and sped toward the building as fast as he could. No matter how it played out, both sides would remember this day.
"Nick, what the hell is that?" Judy asked as they sat behind their cruiser.
Nick picked up his gun, a huge smile on his face as several questions he'd had in his mind were answered. "I think that's the signal," he said as he stood up. Just in case he didn't get another chance to do so, he picked Judy up, despite her weighing significantly more in her armor, and pulled her into the kiss that ended all kisses. The fox poured out as much love as he could into it. By the time he'd set her down, Judy's face was crimson. Several officers behind them snickered; rather, they would've been snickering, had everyone's eyes not been glued to the rocket truck that was speeding down the road towards the building at a hundred miles an hour.
In slow motion, the back of the truck raised, revealing 9 racks with 8 huge missiles loaded in them. About 500 feet from the building, the truck blasted its payload- 2 missiles blew up the top, 3 exploded in the middle and the last 3 flew into the base. Nick's eyes were glued to the truck. It wasn't slowing down. He began to get concerned, but right before the truck slammed into the front of the building, he saw the door fly open and a fox spring out, diving into a section of bushes to cushion his impact.
The building made a horrible screaming noise as it was engulfed in flame and struggled to stay up. Yet, despite 8 ballistic missiles blowing up on it, most of the structure held up. It must've been constructed to withstand such a hit.
Through the groans of the dying building, Nick heard a sound he hadn't ever wanted to hear again- the whirling of helicopter blades. He turned behind him to see several choppers rapidly approaching from the air. No one had time to shout before the street exploded with a hailstorm of bullets as the helicopters attacked from the sky. All at once, the scene turned into hell- several cars had exploded, officers and some civilians had been hit or torn to shreds by the machine guns from the choppers. At the same time, the air was filled with lead as the officers and some military force shot back, lighting the helicopters up with all kinds of small arms fire and even a few machine guns and rockets from the soldiers.
Through the chaos, Nick spotted a different helicopter far off- This one was sleek and approaching much more quickly than the others had. Nick's eyes widened as he realized it was a transport chopper, no doubt meant to carter the Boss off to safety. He grabbed Judy's arm and pointed to it. Wordlessly, he jumped up and bolted across the torn-up street into the smoking building, leaving Judy to watch the scene unfold.
