Oh my! Phew. Happy New Year! I will do some touch ups to a few of the earlier chapters since I most likely changed a bit of how I write and since this has been going on a while, I noticed some small writing change that I'd like to add to my earlier chapters. Always open to comments, complaints, questions, tips. Hang tough. Hard chapter incoming!
Family
"Father, what should we do with him?" asked Manchas. Big examined the rifle in his paws and brushed off the dirt that collected from it hitting the ground.
"We wust...talk." He walked up to Nick, who couldn't help having his ears pinned back. He worked to keep a firm posture, but was sure he had enough nervous tension shooting through him to send small tremors through Zootopia. "Flease forgive wy sweech," Big slurred. His breath whistled through the gaping wound in his cheek. His teeth and tongue were exposed to the elements. Half of his bottom lip was missing. He slurped what spittle leaked out of the wound. "Finnick saw to offew me cosmetic surgewy. What a generous fox."
"He did a fine job," retorted Nick.
"You think it funny?" growled Big. Manchas moaned behind Nick as he guarded him with a clawed paw on the back of his neck. The painful sigh he gave helped bolster the little courage Nick clung to. "Manchas. There is sowm medication for you. I'll call fo a doctoh."
"I'll kill that rabbit. Tear his ears off," mumbled Manchas. Rabbit? Nick grinned.
"Hey, you guys started this mess. Eye for an eye, yeah?" A stinging slap shook Nick's vision. Manchas then dug his claws into the top of his head.
"Shut up!"
"To the den," said Big. Manchas let his hot, angry breath run over Nick's scalp as he continued to tug, pulling the skin and digging with his claws.
"Ah!" Nick snarled as the burn crept through his head and set his ears ringing while being pushed forward. He tried to ignore the sudden sticky warmth leaking down his head from several spots.
"Where is mwy daughter?" asked Big.
"I don't know!" These sick mammals. They should have gone for medical attention. The wounds they were tolerating must be festering. Nick tried to make sense of them as he was guided out of the Rainforest and toward the border edge into Tundratown. Things became clear when he thought about the ZPD and their efforts. Big's public attack, his gloating on television. And the desperation of Big's bears. There must be a massive hunt on the way to apprehend the shrew. Oh no...
The confidence Nick felt when marching to the rainforest was gone. He should have listened to Fangmeyer. He should have waited. Big was done. He holed up because there was nothing left. It was just as Jennifer, Officer Jennifer Fangmeyer said. But in his grief, Nick let his impatience and desire to pull his own weight get the better of him. He cursed himself for his stupid arrogance. For ignoring the advice of professionals doing their jobs. Now Bigsby had a rifle to fight with. And he was being held hostage. It was Finnick's mistake all over again. I am a fool!
Nick ducked his head and walked down an icy slope leading into a passage. He heard a faint rumbling noise coming from the darkness. The motors of the climate wall, he figured. It generated a noise deep yet sharp; the distinctly terrible whistle of chilling winds. In comparison, the hissing emitted from Big's wound was pathetic sounding. Perversely, Nick felt a pang of sympathy for him. The floor went from the wet slickness of fresh ice to sticky solid as they walked deeper inside. They followed the tunnel as it gently curved to the right, then it stopped and opened up into a circular room.
Lights were pinned to the curved wall, frozen in place, yet functional. Clever. A low table with magazines and folders were neatly set to a side. Cigars, drinks, and pictures of a family of Shrews sat in a triangular pattern in the center. And next to it all, a digital camera. Big sat cross-legged in front of the table. He rested the rifle on his lap and wordlessly pointed to the other end of the table. Manchas released Nick. He hurried to take a seat in front of Big.
"You hurt me when you decided to stawt avoiding me. I wanted you to bwe successful. I helped you start your little food business. I offewed you so much." Big slurped some more as he spoke. "I thought we had an understanding."
"Father Big, you're in bad shape. Just surrender and seek help. You can't force people to obey your every command." Big grimaced. He glanced at the pictures on the table, one of an old female shrew kissing him on the cheek. Another with a large group in a gathering of sorts. Everyone eating at a table in formal dress attire.
"You're a bettah pahson than I am. And you hoyt me. So I'll kill you. Neveh let the swallest slight go without answer. That is the one lesson mwy Grandma told me and I keef it to my haht. I am brutality. And I am pwoud of it." Big smiled, weakly. But it was enough to make Nick turn his gaze away in horror. He thought about lunging for the rifle, but the presence of Manchas prevented him from acting.
"Call your f-f-fwends. I want to know who helfed you. You couldn't haf lasted as you have without help. I could use some tawget practice." With a trembling paw, Nick reached into his pants pocket. He pulled out his phone and stared at his reflection. For whatever reason, there was a prolonged silence. Nick was glad that he wasn't being rushed. He sat for what felt like a minute, staring at his idle phone, staring into his reflection as if waiting for it to give him an escape route. A secret answer to his predicament.
He scrolled through his contact list; a list full of names he no longer communicated with. Some of the names were of deceased people. Others were just mammals he drifted from. And when he reached the final gift given to him by Finnick, a lifeline, Nick hit the call button. The words, "When you are ready" written on the crumpled paper he received from Finnick in the bar returned to him. He sighed as it rang once in his ear, still unsure of what to say. Then he looked at the rifle Big held protectively under his skinny pink fingers.
He thought back to his conversation with Fangmeyer in Jack's home, just after the others set out to City Hall. He asked her several curious questions about his heroine's work as a SWAT officer. She told him something: Codes. Police codes pertaining to hostage situations.
"Nick!?" said a surprised Judy. Nick inhaled a breath, his tongue pinned down by the beating lump in his throat. Big nodded encouragingly.
"Don't mess this up," he mumbled. "Tell her where you are. But lie about the finer details." Nick glanced at Manchas, then Big.
"Nick, are you alright?"
"I'm pinned under a tree," he began. "In the Rainforest District. I was chasing Big and I fell near a burned tree. He pushed it on me. I think my ankle is broken. Are you around?"
"He's there? Why are you by yourself? What were you thinking? I'll come over right away. McHorn is with me. And a few others." He nearly jumped from where he sat. He needed to tip them off somehow. There had to be a way. He hastily said,
"Just listen. I'm in between two address codes, alright? If you see code 1130, keep going into the forest away from the main road." There it was: 1130, the code for a hostage situation. He desperately hoped that she understood the meaning. "But don't go past 1148. 1148 means you went too far. Backtrack, alright? Let the others know so that they can help you find me. It's a Big tree along the border's edge between the Rainforest and Tundratown. Between 1130 and 1148." 1148, the second code, the warning of a possible ambush.
"Right, 1130, and 1148. Thanks, Nick." He hung up the phone, and in an effort to drive home his cooperation, he let it sit on the table in front of Big.
"Those are some strange addresses, Nick," said Manchas.
"I've worked there before, Manchas. You should know that. There is a neighborhood not too far away. And if you hurry, you might just catch her. You can see the houses for yourself."
"I live in the rainforest, Nick. Mr. Big, surely you don't believe this?" Big gingerly touched the wound, running his fingers along the cut on his face. Nick found it painful to watch him play with the gash.
"You might live there, but you don't know every street and every neighborhood," said Nick.
"I'm a limo driver!"
"Enough! For now, we will wait for a second call." With that, silence returned to the den. The unbearable tension made Nick grow impatient.
"I'm sorry." A lame remark to continue the conversation. To placate Big and keep him distracted. Maybe even dull his fury and hate, if possible.
"'Sorry' won't return my eye. Or fix Big's face." Manchas imposed his size over Nick. Big only scowled. The expression somehow looking more sinister with the wound. But Manchas kept his shadow above Nick. Nick ignored the angry phantom on the table, casting its dark rage over him. Instead, he focused on the pictures. Memories dear to Big, no doubt. Nick pointed to the picture of the feast.
"Is this at a wedding?" Big sighed emotionally.
"Yes. I was with mwy cousins at the time. There was two floody fights wy the end of that night." He smirked. Nick looked stunned. What a special ferocity shrews held. He fidgeted in his seat as he saw all possible doors to pull at Big's heart shut down, Manchas' shadow was now more prominent on his awareness. Monstrous and large. Menacing like the two predators he sat sandwiched between. With each passing second, Nick's courage slipped further away.
"Was it worth it?"
"Yes," said Big. "We shwews don't do well in lawge gwoups. We ah fery territowial. Efen awongst our own. Did you know I tried to r-r-run foh Mayor?" If there was a merciful God, Nick privately thanked it at this moment for Big's failed political career. "They claim I didn't have the suffort to r-r-run. I couldn't meet the wequirements. That's a lie. They denied me foh feing a shrew. This city is frejudiced. It can be lonely sometimes."
"Now there is a story that sounds familiar," mumbled Nick.
"I'll say it again, Nick. I did so wuch to frotect and defend you this year. Your ungrateful attitude will fe met with wath."
"Having Delgato and a bunch of goons extort money from me and destroy my harmless little truck, my business, was all part of your love too?"
"The lion acted on his own and was dealt with for that. He and his entire family is now gone. I did that for you! We...ate them." Finally hearing the truth only made it worse than what Nick imagined. Because the touching sentiment of being thought of was blended such a gruesome mode of retaliation. An entire family gone and devoured by this creature before him. Nick could have never wished for such revenge. Only Arthur Bigsby can make sentimental thought be so perverse, so sinister and so revolting. In this moment, though Nick never believed in an embodiment of good or evil. Big, in this instance, was becoming so close to being a living entity of something close to that. But through it all, through their past relationship, however tenuous, Nick looked at Big and felt as much sadness for the shrew as he felt repugnance and fear. He hoped, not anymore for some way to escape, but for a quick death by the hands of the monsters that held him at their mercy. Mercy...
Finally, the familiar tune of his phone cut the wicked silence.
"No, I won't give uuup. No, I won't give iiiin 'til I've reached the end." He picked that tune specifically for the counterforce to the evil that ensnared him; the first officer to give him a chance. Judy Hopps. The one that always kept him in her thoughts, from their first chilly encounter and beyond. It was her who protected him from being thrown back into the system for illegal behavior, for foolishly conspiring with Big. It was her who sent Fangmeyer and McHorn after him when Delgato had brought independent goons to rob him of his humble fortunes. She was always there in the background, watching over him like an overbearing, loving bratty sister. Sister...
Just like family. The word, so twisted when coming from Big, was pure when Nick mumbled it. When Nick thought about it, he felt a sense of protection. Courage. Warmth. With blurred eyes and no more strength or will to restrain his feelings, he whimpered and shot a paw forward for his phone. But Big was surprisingly quick and snatched it up from the table.
"Hold on there!" He smiled and let the phone ring. Nick knew he looked far too desperate in his attempt to claim it. "It's mwine now." Big placed the phone in his pocket and grabbed the rifle. After admiring it once more, he turned to the entrance and slowly paced to the threshold. He turned to Nick and Manchas and said,
"With this, I should see the helpahs cofing."
"I killed Kevin!" shouted Nick.
"What?" Big took two large steps toward Nick, who slowly stood up. Manchas pressed his claws down on Nick's shoulders. He cringed and grit his teeth through the pain.
"I shot him and watched him choke to death on his blood. Your strong arms are gone. Both of them." The whistling from Big's breath increased in strength and speed. He growled as he spoke,
"When I weturn, You'll die slow fy wy hands. I'll skin you with wy fingers. Chain Nick to the wall!"
"Gladly." A burning sting tore a cry from Nick as Manchas buried his claws deeper into Nick's shoulders, ripping through his thin black sweater. The panther pulled him by his skin and fur more than his shirt and dragged him on his heels to the far wall of the den. He froze when Manchas pressed his large, thick fangs on his head. Slowly, Manchas applied pressure to his scalp and held him in place as he forced his claws out of Nick's shoulders. Nick whimpered and grunted, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Manchas then pulled Nick's arms up and slammed his wrists against the wall, sending a numbing shock through his paws. He locked Nick to frozen shackles he didn't notice before.
"Big is out hunting. Sure. But that doesn't mean I can't have my fun." Manchas' large head took up most of Nick's view. The cat gave him a sinister grin, made all the more grotesque by the wound of his missing eye. But he looked ill. Weak.
"I take it you messed with the wrong rabbit, huh?" A slap.
"Shut up! Oh." Manchas backpedaled two steps and held his head. An idea struck Nick. If I could increase his headache...
"Yeah, I see. A big predator, one of a line of the most respected, beautiful and feared species, the big cats, and you were worked over by prey. Couldn't handle Jack the badass, huh? You wuss." Manchas Growled and charged, he tugged on Nick's tail. That's it. Get his blood pumping to his head. Get him pissed.
"Big won't mind if I tear this off." Nick yelped, and his knees buckled. An electric buzz shot up his spine as Manchas tugged on his tail. But then there was nothing. He regained his footing to see Manchas on a knee, holding his head. He tried to stand and panted weakly. Nick watched as fresh blood began to leak from the wound.
"Where's that fucking...medicine?" said Manchas. He weakly reached out with extended claws to scratch at Nick's face. When he failed to make contact, he wobbled to his left and fell over. Nick let go of the breath he held and relaxed. He watched Manchas for a moment, and when he didn't move, felt enough comfort to conclude he passed out. It was a wonder how he walked around for so long with such a wound.
The minutes blurred together in the silence of the den. Nick didn't bother to look around and make sense of the details of his environment. The dome-shaped interior was dizzying with all the blue. It was as if he was stuck in a large frozen air bubble in the bottom of the ocean. A faint bang in the distance startled him to attention. Then there was one more. He snarled and squirmed against his shackles. His paws were numb, but he wasn't willing to damage them pointlessly if he couldn't weaken his restraints. He tried to reach for the right band with his head, but the distance was too great. Heavy steps slowly made their way back to the den.
"Looky heah!" A limp figure with a fluffy short tail first appeared. Her legs dangled in the air as she was draped over Big's shoulder. He turned to drop the motionless Judy Hopps and placed the rifle standing on the wall next to her head. Nick squeaked a fearful cry and stared. Red streaked over her uniform and made its way down her left side. A hole cut into her chest.
"Y-y-you..." Nick couldn't speak. He struggled to breathe and comprehend what appeared to be the death of all his hopes, his mercy, his family. Big looked at Manchas.
"Oh what? Did he fass out fwom his wounds? Feh!" Nick remained frozen with blurred eyes strangled by tears as Big approached.
"I'll start with your eyes. Pluck them out. One for each bear."
"Blegh! Blood...bloood...and...death!" Big froze with his hands in mid-reach of Nick's face. He turned, and Nick looked to see Judy holding the rifle aimed at Bigsby.
"McHorn!" shouted Judy to the entrance of the den. "Arthur Bigsby, you are under arrest!" Any attempt to make words were overpowered by Nick's joyful bawling. He laughed through tears as Judy talked down Big. McHorn and two large tigers in SWAT uniform entered the den. She turned her gaze away from Big and Manchas every few moments, no doubt disgusted by their wounds. The tigers made their way over to Manchas, who moaned back to consciousness. When Judy finally made her way to Nick, he only managed to choke out,
"I love you!" She cut through his shackles and held him tight in her arms once he was free.
"Never give up, Nick."