Chapter 28 – Blue Blood:

Author's Note:

Well… with finals finally over, I can resume posting once again! However… I have some good news for those of you who enjoy this story. Over winter break, I will be exclusively posting for this story, in an effort to finish it before the Spring semester starts near the end of January. I'm not sure if it's possible, but I've been working on this story for a year, and I would like to start something new next year. That means, of course, I won't be posting only once a week, I'll be dropping chapters basically as soon as they're finished, which might mean you may see upwards of two chapters a week! And that also means I'll no longer have a fixed day of posting, so beware of that… though you all should still have plenty of time to read each installment.

I'd like to respond to USA Patriot real quick… I was actually really excited to hear your gun rant for last chapter's action scene. I was a little disappointed that I had to wait so long, but it was certainly worth the wait! Ah, as Wolfy will explain in this chapter, he fumbled his mag, nearly dropping it off the building he was sniping from. If you couldn't already tell, he's not a field agent, unlike Blank, and although he's a good shot, he's a little rusty. Hopefully that answers your question as to why it took so long for him to kill the arctic vixen.

In any case, last chapter left off with a cliffhanger, right as Blank was about to be arrested. Will Judy manage to capture the rogue hyena, or will Blank make a daring escape? Please, enjoy!

XXX

Judy watched with almost smug satisfaction as Blank dropped to her knees, putting her paws behind her head. The two females exchanged glares before Judy looked up at a polar bear next to her, though she continued to glance at the hyena out of the corner of her eye. Despite being completely surrounded, Judy didn't put it past the rogue hyena to try something. "Cuff her," the bunny ordered the polar bear.

Blank looked down at the ground, unable to watch as the polar bear pulled out a pair of pawcuffs and made his way towards her. She shut her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, before letting it out slowly. This wasn't it. It couldn't be it for her… she finally had a lead!

She could feel the large polar bear's steps through the ground as he carefully approached her. As his form blocked the sun, covering her in a shadow, she couldn't help the smirk that crossed her face. They're still scared of me, she cackled internally. Despite the burning in her arm and shoulder, the lancing pain in her hip, and her throbbing leg… she could make it out of this.

Officer Snarlov was a cautious man, it was why Judy picked him to make the arrest. And he knew that looks could be deceiving. Despite the fact that he was twice her size and that she was clearly injured, the hollow laugh that escaped her lips gave him pause as he leaned down to grab her paws.

Unfortunately, caution wouldn't save him here. He couldn't help the cold sweat that began dripping from his brow as Blank looked up at him, still chuckling softly, determination burning in her eyes. Oh shi… was his last thought before a bullet whizzed through the air, slamming into Snarlov's skull, a gunshot sounding almost immediately afterwards.

Wolfgang saved me again, Blank snickered as she reached up and grabbed Snarlov, who was already practically dead, and pulled him down on top of her, blood from the hole in his head dripping onto her face. She kept him propped up enough where she would be able to push him off of her, but because there were no officers behind her, he provided a useful shield. As it only took a few seconds after Wolfgang killed Snarlov for the other officers to open fire, only for their bullets to hit Snarlov's corpse instead.

Blank could hear Judy crying out for the officers to cease fire, but they mostly ignored her as Wolfgang took another shot, likely felling another officer. Judy's screaming was cut off by the sound of Nick finally yelling out, "Sniper!" as he, along with everyone else realizing that the shot must've come from somewhere else.

Blank let out another chuckle as she reached behind her back and pulled out her last flashbang. With the officers rushing around, yelling out 'sniper,' and focusing more on getting out of Wolfgang's line of fire, they were no longer firing at her position. Which meant it was time for her to leave.

Blank pulled the pin on the flashbang before throwing it around Snarlov's body. She heard Wolfgang fire off a few more shots before the flashbang finally detonated. And the moment it did, she shoved Snarlov off her and took off, despite the burning in her leg and pain in her hip. She was running on pure adrenaline, and nothing could stop her.

Judy was still reeling over the deaths of her comrades in blue via sniper fire and was unable to properly protect herself from the flashbang. The wall of light and sound hit her like a truck, causing her to scream out in fear and frustration. She could vaguely hear Nick yelling, "Don't let her get away!" but it sounded like he was miles away.

She heard gunfire as the half-blind, half-deaf officers tried to orientate themselves and stop the fleeing hyena. Each gunshot caused the ringing in her ears to intensify, forcing her to her knees as the world spun uncontrollably around her. Her head began to pound even as the flashbang faded into oblivion. Judy didn't doubt that Blank had managed to escape.

"Judy? Judy!" Nick exclaimed as he rushed over to the keeled-over bunny. He had briefly attempted to pursue the fleeing hyena, but was forced to take cover behind a car as he was nearly hit by a sniper round. All the other officers were forced into cover as well, as the sniper killed anyone who attempted to follow Blank.

But, several minutes after Blank disappeared, the sniper stopped firing at the officers, allowing Nick to approach Judy. She hadn't moved from her spot, but the sniper didn't target her. Or maybe the warehouse was blocking his line of sight. But concern immediately welled up in his chest once he saw that she was curled up on the ground, clutching her head in pain.

He leaned down next to her and put a paw on her shoulder, hoping that his mere presence would be comforting. And it was comforting. The moment his paw touched her shoulder, the world stabilized for her. Her eyes opened slowly as the ringing in her ears faded away.

"Nick," she said softly, looking up at him as she did. He gave her a small smile and offered her his other paw, which she graciously accepted, before he hoisted her to her feet. She wobbled, but didn't fall over again. She pressed a paw against her head, as it was still pounding, but it was a small price to pay for balance.

"Are you alright, Fluff?" the fox asked, reverting to one of his nicknames for her once he knew she wasn't in danger.

"Not really… but it'll have to do for now," she sighed. Looking over at the other officers to see them making their way towards her, she decided that she had to at least try and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. "We're not done yet."

Nick's ear flicked as he heard those words. "Not one to give up, are you, Fluff?" he asked with a soft sigh. "I want to catch her just as much as you do, but I think it's time we slink back to the precinct and try and consolidate."

"No… no, we're going after her. And her sniper friend," Judy hissed. Wolfgang… she realized who the sniper must be. "Johnson, Anderson!" she called out, turning to the polar bear officer and the lion officer.

"Sir? Uh… Ma'am, I mean," Johnson said as he and his partner stepped forward. They were one of the most successful duos on the force, behind Nick and Judy themselves.

"I need you to hop in a squad car and pursue the suspect," Judy ordered, putting her paws on her hips. "She couldn't have gotten far, and it looks like she's heading deeper into the slums. If you find her, call it in, but don't let her get away. She's injured, but still dangerous. So lethal force is advised."

"Yes ma'am!" Anderson exclaimed as he and Johnson headed towards one of the squad cars at standby. Besides being one of the most successful duos on the force, they were also one of the most lethal. Few could match the strength and ferocity of a polar bear, while Johnson was just under eight feet tall, granting him access to a firearm. If any duo could take an injured Blank out, it would be those two.

Judy didn't wait for them to pull out of the cruiser's parking spot before giving more orders. "Jackson, Grizzoli, take a few other officers with you and try and block off as many exits to Happytown as you possibly can. If Johnson and Anderson can't find her, we can't let her leave the slums," the bunny commanded. "Lethal force is authorized for you lot as well."

"Understood," Jackson nodded, gesturing towards a few other officers as they too headed towards squad cars. If Anderson and Johnson managed to find the rogue hyena, they would be able to box her in and eventually capture her. If they didn't, Blank wouldn't be able to leave the slums at the very least.

"Rhinowitz, McHorn, take the remaining officers and hunt down that fucking sniper. Arrest him or kill him, either one works," Judy growled, gritting her teeth slightly. While she preferred to take Wolfgang and Blank alive, their actions today warranted lethal force. Especially since Wolfgang had killed multiple officers today.

"We'll search the surrounding buildings," McHorn nodded as he took off towards the most likely place the sniper was hiding. While the rhinos thick skin and plate armor likely wouldn't stop Wolfgang's sniper rounds, but it might give them a fighting chance.

"And what about us, ma'am?" Nick smirked slightly, gesturing to the fact that it was just him and the bunny left.

"We're going to check on SKY… and call an ambulance for the injured… dead officers…" Judy sighed, rubbing her temples. "Though I have a feeling there won't be much of SKY left."

"They at least managed to weaken Blank, giving us a chance to capture her," Nick shrugged as he followed the rabbit towards the warehouse. She had already pulled out her phone and was dialing for an ambulance.

Judy didn't respond as she put her phone up to her ear and placed a nine-one-one call. Nick tuned her out as he walked ahead of her to open the heavy warehouse door for her. She thanked him with a nod of her head, before finishing her call and pocketing her phone.

Both Nick and Judy crinkled their noses once they entered the warehouse. And it wasn't just because they could see the dead bodies of SKY agents from the doorway. Rather, it was the rancid smell in the air that they could only describe as sewage. "Nasty…" Nick muttered, pinching his sensitive nose closed as he led the way into the warehouse.

"Not even death smells this bad," Judy agreed, following behind Nick as she too pinched her nose closed. She could almost taste the awful smell.

As they walked through the warehouse, heading towards the deceased body of the lioness agent, they quickly discovered why it smelled so bad in the warehouse. A huge sewer grate in the center of the building that gave both mammals pause. They exchanged glances, but forged onwards. They didn't have the time to ponder what had been produced in this warehouse that required direct access to the sewer for disposal.

"Hnn… ugh…" a pained groan drew both of their attention away from the lioness, who was only a few steps away, towards a small gray figure leaning against one of the many pillars supporting the building.

Judy's eyes widened as she recognized the figure as J. And it wasn't exactly easy to tell it was the gray and black striped bunny. He had removed his suit jacket and attempted to fashion it into some type of cast, as it looked like one of his legs had been torn from its socket. Blood stained the floor beneath him, the suit jacket cast doing little to stop the bleeding.

"Oh my god," Judy muttered as she and Nick rushed over to the injured rabbit. She knelt down and tried to touch his makeshift cast, only for him to slap her paw away.

"Don't… ugh… worry about me… the others…" he gasped out. He had clearly lost a lot of blood, and was struggling not to pass out.

"The others…" Judy trailed off as she glanced around. Each one had blood pouring from wounds, and the arctic vixen was practically missing her entire head, the red liquid slowly flowing down the inclined plane the warehouse was built on, heading towards the sewer grate. They weren't moving, and it didn't look like they were breathing either. "The others are dead, J."

"Damn it… damn it!" the buck growled, trying to stand up, only for him to slide off the column he was leaning on, collapsing onto his uninjured side.

"Stop moving!" Nick exclaimed, seeing that the buck's makeshift cast had come off, even more of his lifeblood leaking out of his wound. And now that Nick could see the injury clearly, it didn't look good. His leg was likely useless… it might just need to be amputated.

"Yes, stop struggling, we can help you," Judy sighed as she grabbed the makeshift cast and tried to tie it back in place. "We've called an ambulance, but it's looking like you're the only survivor."

"No! No… no ambulance, no hospital," J grunted as Judy tightened the cast.

"Well you don't have a lot of choice," the doe huffed, crossing her eyes.

"Then kill me now," the buck growled, rolling onto his back as he waited for death to come.

"Kill… I'm not going to do that!" Judy exclaimed, aghast at the very idea.

"Then take me somewhere that's not a hospital," J shrugged.

"You know, you can't even move," Nick rolled his eyes. "It's not like you have much choice."

"Maybe not… but I still have something you two want, right?" J smirked up at Judy. "The analysis of the venom samples… with the rest of SKY dead I'm the only one who can give it to you. And I can't do that in a hospital."

Nick and Judy glared at the gray and black striped rabbit for a few seconds before Judy threw her paws into the air with an exasperated sigh. "Fine, fine, I'll take you somewhere safe," she growled. "But I can't guarantee that I'll be able to save your leg."

"My leg… is of no concern right now," J muttered. "I cannot allow our operation to be jeopardized with me being in the hospital. Even if you can't save my leg, as long as I don't die, you'll be able to get the information you seek."

"Well that's just fan-fucking-tastic," Nick snarled, mostly to himself, as he leaned down and picked the buck up carefully, making sure the cast didn't come off. He then followed Judy towards the door. They could hear sirens in the distance, but they probably had plenty of time to get out of here.

XXX

Blank didn't stop running until she was nearly a full kilometer deeper into the slums. And even then, she only slowed down. The streets of Happytown were thankfully mostly empty. The few mammals that were loitering around likely wanted to come into contact with the cops even less than she did. She was at least momentarily safe. But, for good measure, she made her way towards an alleyway, ducking into it, and hiding behind a dumpster.

She let out a loud gasp as she slid down the steel garbage container, panting hard as she tried to catch her breath. Every part of her, not just the ones riddled with bullets, burned like hell. Leaning her head back against the dumpster, she shut her eyes and just tried to catch her breath. The alleyway she was in was closed off with a wooden fence only a few feet away from her and no ladders or staircases leading up the side of either of the buildings she was between. With her hiding behind the dumpster, she couldn't be seen from anyone outside of the alley.

Finally, after a few minutes of nothing more than just panting, she let out a sigh and tore off her trench coat. There were a few new holes in the metal plates, but it was nothing too serious. What was more serious was her still bleeding bullet holes. The running had aggravated most of the wounds, causing more blood to pour from the holes.

She could certainly feel herself getting woozy, and although the holes would likely need to be sown up or cauterized, she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to make it without some sort of treatment. So she pulled out her knife, and decided to start with the least serious wounds, the bullets that had hit her arm.

The bullets had eaten through her trench coat and embedded themselves in her arm. Such a small caliber round shouldn't have been able to do that… but as she dug the first bullet out, she realized why. They weren't regular nine millimeters, though Blank wasn't sure what the caliber of bullet a fox would use. They were special, drill-like, 'bone-eater' rounds. The hyena had heard that Lionheart made his home teams use these sorts of rounds, but she had never seen them for herself before.

That explains why they ate through my coat… Blank grumbled as she worked on dislodging the next bullet. They weren't too terribly deep, they hadn't quite hit bone, but they were stuck fairly well in her flesh. And there were three of them. Each one hurt to dig out, but she knew the pain would be nothing compared to the one in her hip.

She set the bullets aside, though she had no intention of leaving them, before opening a flak jacket pocket and pulling out a small roll of gauze. She didn't carry a lot of the stuff, as she didn't get shot very often, but she had just enough to cover her wounds.

She finished wrapping her arm, before picking up her knife again and working on her shoulder. To her surprise, the bullet hadn't actually bit into her flesh. It ate through her trench coat and the part of her flak jacket covering her shoulder, but not into her skin. The impact had given her a nasty bruise for sure, as her shoulder still ached, but it was one less wound she would have to patch.

She then turned her attention towards the round in her hip. She was most worried about this wound, as it was the only one she was sure burrowed into her bone. Sucking in a deep breath, fighting through the pain, she carefully slipped the tip of her knife into the wound, trying to dislodge the bullet in her bone.

She let out a few loud grunts and gasps as she made the bullet hole larger, more of her blood pouring onto the ground. Her knife grated against her bone as she managed to dislodge the round, but not get it out of her side. Letting out a hiss, she was forced to open the wound more with her knife, before reaching in with her fingers to fish the bullet out.

It took nearly a minute, but eventually she managed to pull the blood-soaked bullet from her hip and set it in a pile with the others. Resuming her panting, as she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, she wrapped the gauze around her waist, covering the wound while she was at it.

One left, she muttered to herself as she wiped her brow, only succeeding in smearing blood across her forehead. As she picked up her knife again, intent on going for the bullet in her leg, she felt her phone start buzzing. Letting out a tired sigh, she reached into her pocket with her blood-slicked fingers, before pulling out her phone and answering it. "Yes?" she asked, holding the old-fashioned flip phone up to her ear.

"It's me," Wolfgang's voice came through the speaker.

"Oh, good," Blank replied, leaning against the dumpster again. "We're in a bit of a bind here."

"I noticed," Wolfgang chuckled. "I didn't really want to kill those cops…"

"Well it's a damn good thing you did," she growled. "No one, and I mean no one, is going to get in the way of me completing my mission!"

"Of course," he sighed. "But with SKY disposed of and six or seven officers down for the count, I'd say we have a bit of breathing room."

"I wouldn't be too sure," she rolled her eyes. "I have no doubt that they've sent out patrols to find us… are you still at your vantage point?"

"No, I moved the moment you were out of sight. I'm fairly safe, at the moment, but I did hear sirens a minute or so ago…" he muttered. "In any case, are you alright?"

"Alright? Well, besides the bullet holes, I'm just peachy," Blank grumbled as she looked at the wound in her leg again. It wasn't quite as bad as the one in her hip, but it would make even walking painful for quite a while.

"Oh… sorry about that," he said softly. "I sort of… fumbled the magazine while loading it… I could've prevented you from getting shot if I had been a little faster."

"Well, I'm not dead, so it could have been worse," she smirked, twirling her knife in her paw. "Let's not worry about what you could have done and focused on what you can do for me now… I need an EVAC and a place where we can seal these bullet holes."

"EVAC is going to be tough… maybe impossible," Wolfgang muttered. "But… I think I have a safe place where we can patch you up…"

"Yeah, you're right… ah, we should stay separate," she grunted. "Just tell me where to go."

"223… fourth street…" he replied nearly a full minute later. He sounded extremely hesitant.

"You don't sound pleased to tell me that…" she observed. "And wait a moment… I'm still in the slums! Fourth street is like… three kilometers away!"

"Yeah, I know. But it's all we got, even though I'm not happy about it," he grumbled. "Just get moving as soon as you're able and stay safe… I hope you bring good news when you get here."

"I will," Blank sighed before he hung up. Although she was curious about why he sounded like he didn't want to tell her where the safehouse was, she didn't have time to focus on that. She could hear sirens in the distance, and they sounded like they were getting louder.

So she pocketed her phone and got to work on the bullet in her leg. Like she predicted, it wasn't quite as difficult to dislodge as the one in her hip had been, but it was still bleeding. She set the bullet aside once she got it out of her leg, before wrapping the wound in gauze. Hopefully it would hold the entire way to the safehouse.

She sucked in a huge breath as she grabbed the rim of the dumpster and hoisted herself off the ground. As much as she'd like to rest here for another hour… or day, the sirens had gotten even louder, and she needed proper treatment to her wounds. Rest would have to wait.

She grabbed her trench coat off the ground and slipped it onto her body. Her ears flicked as the sirens continued to get louder and louder. A cruiser is coming down this street, she realized as she picked up the bloody bullets and put them in her trench coat pocket. While keeping her DNA off the scene had become impossible, considering how much blood had been pouring from the wounds, she definitely didn't want these military-grade, special rounds somehow being reverse-engineered and put onto the streets. That would just be stupid.

She sucked in another breath as the cruiser got closer. It was moving fairly slowly, so the officers were likely doing a thorough sweep of the area. She had two choices… either she could stay here in the alleyway and wait for them to pass… or she could engage them. Making up her mind, she pulled the MP5 off her back, before making her way towards the exit to the alleyway. She didn't really want to walk to fourth street… she'd rather have transportation.

As the cruiser got within a mere meter of the alleyway, Blank stepped out from the shadows, padding to a stop right in front of the vehicle. The driver of the squad car, a lion officer, Blank noted, slammed on the breaks the moment she came into view, stopping the car only a few inches away from hitting her.

The polar bear and lion officers stared at her in disbelief for only a second, as they were stunned she had just stepped out in front of their patrol car. But it was in that second Blank lifted her submachinegun and lit up the cop car with a stream of bullets.

The bullets punched through the windshield of the squad car, cracking the window, but not shattering it. The polar bear officer got the brunt of the punishment, as Blank concentrated more than half her magazine on him, considering he was the bigger threat.

The bullets had struck vital areas on the polar bear officer's chest and neck, causing him to slump forward in his seat, blood dripping from his wounds as the light left his eyes. Blank expended the rest of the magazine on the lion officer, who was struggling to exit the vehicle. He had thrown the door open, but forgotten his seatbelt was still on, causing him to fall onto the asphalt, his torso still in the vehicle.

But he had managed to escape the rest of the submachinegun's magazine, giving him time to pull his firearm from its holster. With his gun in one paw, he let his claws slide out of his other paw and slash at the seatbelt restricting him, allowing him to pull the rest of his torso out of the car.

But he wasn't even able to stand up before Blank rounded on him. She had tossed her empty MP5 aside in favor of her knife as she made it around the squad car door, grabbing his mane as she did. Letting out a feral roar, the lion officer managed to squeeze off two rounds into Blank's plate-carrier before the hyena rammed her knife through his throat.

He let out a gurgled cry of pain as she twisted the knife cruelly, before wrenching it out of his neck, splattering blood all over her flak jacket, and letting him fall limply onto the ground. Blank let out a grunt as she climbed into the cruiser and wiped her knife clean on the sleeve of the polar bear officer.

Noticing that she couldn't see through the cracked windshield, she knocked it out of its frame, letting it fall uselessly onto the hood, before it slid onto the ground. She sent one last passing glance towards the lion officer, who had fallen in such a manner that he was able to watch her shut the door and step on the gas. Johnson watched, completely helpless, as she drove away

XXX

Well, you all wondered if Blank could escape! And the answer is yes, yes she could. To be fair, though, Judy didn't know about Wolfgang sniping from a building, nor could she have prepared for him even if she did. So maybe it was an unfair fight… but fighting fair is for dead men!

And so Blank makes her way towards Wolfgang's mysterious safehouse. It's actually a reference that only one (maybe two) of you will understand (the address of the safehouse, I mean), so I won't mention any names. One thing that I would like to note specifically for USA Patriot, the 'bone-eater' rounds mentioned by Blank are a type of ammo I made up specifically for SKY agents. They fire like regular rounds, but if the bullet hits something like armor or bone and comes to a stop, the rounds start to drill into whatever they hit, causing more damage as they do. I don't know if there's anything like that in real life (I didn't really check), but for the purposes of this story, they exist.

And with all that being said, I hope to see you all real soon. Again, posting is no longer fixed to one day, I just want to make that clear. I'll be posting chapters basically as soon as they're finished… but most likely you'll be seeing updates on weekends (Friday-Sunday). Stay tuned until next time!