Hello all! I hope everyone has been doing well and staying safe!
It's been a bit since I updated and I apologize for that, but it's mosly because this next chapter is massive. If I could have I would have broken it into two pieces, but there was no natural break...sooo...I hope you all enjoy!
As always thank you to all of my lovely readers and reviewers and of course my lovely beta who tackled this massive chapter so very quickly!
And now...
Chapter 21
Freddy had no idea how long he sat on the floor, tucked against the crate, but there were parts of his anatomy that were numb and he was so on edge that his tense muscles ached and he was losing hope that Jimmy was going to do anything other than sit in his chair and read his newspaper.
Jimmy gave a yawn and closed his paper, suddenly standing and dropping the newspaper to the ground.
Striding between the rows of cages, Jimmy glanced at the mammals within, inspecting them and giving a warning to not make a sound.
Soft whimpers and shuffling could be heard before silence again filled the room. Freddy didn't even dare to breathe until Jimmy walked back to his chair, sat down, crossed his arms over his chest and slid down, closing his eyes.
Freddy shifted as slowly as he was able, trying not to make ant noise. He needed to wait until Jimmy was asleep and hope that no one decided to disturb the slumbering Cape buffalo.
Looking down the rows of cages, he noted there was no cover and nowhere to hide if Jimmy decided to wake up.
Riding high on adrenalin, he listened as Jimmy's breathing slowed and he began to lightly snore.
Muscles tightening, he slunk out from behind the crate. Moving at a sloth's pace he reached the first cage, sticking to the left-paw side, the keys hanging from Jimmy's belt on the Cape buffalo's right.
A startled yelp caused Freddy to freeze, ice flooding his veins as he flattened himself to the floor, his eyes tracking the smallest movement from the sleeping buffalo.
"Help," a soft voice whispered close to his ear and he spared a quick glance at the mammal in the cage.
A scrawny weasel, his fur matted with blood and other things Freddy did not attempt to identify, desperately gripped the bars of his cage, his eyes pleading.
Placing a finger against his lips, Freddy frowned, his eyes quickly shifting back to the buffalo, making sure that he hadn't been alerted to his movement by the plea of the weasel.
Freddy realized this was going to be a problem.
With every cage he passed, a mammal would notice him, and one of them might accidently alert Jimmy that there was someone in the room with him that shouldn't be.
Having no choice but to continue moving forward, he kept his finger upon his lips, hoping that the mammals he passed wouldn't give him away.
A weasel, a rabbit, a sheep, a meerkat, all huddled at the back of their cages, all too terrified, traumatized, or demoralized to even make a sound.
To his right, a pig, a warthog, and an elk stared at him with watchful eyes and he wondered if they had been locked within this horror for less time than the cages on the left.
It was a thought that slipped through his mind, but quickly forgotten as his gaze shifted back to Jimmy.
He stopped and he listened to the sound of the buffalo's light snoring.
"Cage below me," a growled whisper suddenly rang through his hyper-aware senses, causing his fur to stand up on end.
Eyes wide, ears standing at attention, he froze.
"Now," came a hiss from somewhere above him and to his left.
Scrambling a cage over, he wrenched open the door and slid inside, his heart rapidly beating in his chest, his adrenalin spiking when the door behind Jimmy burst open, a jackal and a moose walking through the door.
Freddy skittered to the very back of the foul-smelling cage, huddled up in the corner, trying to make himself as small as possible, hoping his sudden scramble inside had not been observed.
Buried in the dirtied wood shavings, he could hear Jimmy snapping at his companions to, 'Shut up.'
The sound of footsteps coming closer caused Freddy to bury himself into the wood shavings as best as he was able.
"What?" an unfamiliar voice asked, the sound grating on Freddy's sensitive ears.
"I swore I saw…" Jimmy's voice answered slowly, his words trailing off.
Freddy nearly jumped out of his skin when something slammed against the bars of the cage above him, food splattering across the floor in front of his cage.
"This stuff is shit," a voice above him growled.
Freddy recognized the voice as being the one who had warned him about the approaching mammals.
"Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson," Jimmy oozed maliciously.
"I have a hard time learnin' anything new," came the snarky reply.
"Can't you just kill him him?" the unfamiliar voice possibly belonging to either Frank or Earl asked curiously.
"That's 'The Little Ripper!" another unfamiliar voice objected, a pair of black rubber boots coming into Freddy's view. "You should have seen what he did to this one guy's face! He's gonna be a fan favourite if he lives."
"He's been here like…one day," the first unfamiliar voice pointed out.
"And he's still here," the second voice murmured. "He survived a night in the Pit."
"This tiny fox?" the first voice asked in surprise.
Freddy felt his ears perk up at these words. It couldn't be? Could it?
"Won three Blue matches in a row," the second voice affirmed. "Was supposed to do a few Red matches tonight, only they got cancelled 'cause of that Black event."
"Wish I could watch one of those," the first voice sighed.
The second voice snorted. "You couldn't afford the entry fee," he jibed. "Closest we're ever going to get to watching a Black Event is transporting the cages."
"I hear this one's going to be special," the first voice said in a low, conspiratorial voice. "I don't know why, but word is that the entry fee is double the usual amount. The prey must be something special. And the cages they made us move this morning were from the Box."
"Alright you two, break time's over," Jimmy cut in. "Get this mess cleaned up and then get back to work," he ordered.
The two mammals groaned and the rubber boot in front of Freddy vanished for a few moments, replaced by the black boot of Jimmy.
"And you, be glad that we feed you at all. That was probably your last meal," Jimmy growled as the slop that constituted as 'food' was cleaned up off the floor with a paper towel.
"I'll pass, thanks," the fox above him snarked back.
"If you hadn't won last night, and made us a ton of cash, you'd be dead right now," Jimmy taunted.
"If I had lost, I would already be dead," the fox pointed out mockingly.
Freddy could hear the Cape buffalo's teeth grinding together as the two mammals who had been ordered back to work snickered.
"You two, get moving!" Jimmy snapped, the sound of retreating footsteps and the doors opening and closing echoing in the silence of the room.
Jimmy's boot swivelled and stomped away.
Freddy felt his tense muscles relax.
Letting out a soft sigh of relief, he settled back and closed his eyes in frustration. From his position, he wasn't able to see what Jimmy was doing, and Freddy didn't think the buffalo was going to feel like going back to napping any time soon. This meant he had no idea how long he was going to be stuck in the cage.
He could be here all day and into the night and he didn't think he would be lucky enough for their guard to leave after his shift, shut out the lights, and hang the keys to the cages in a nice, convenient location.
Listening intently, he tried to pinpoint the buffalo's location by sound alone. He heard the creak of the chair, the snap of the newspaper, and the snort of air leaving the irritated buffalo's nostrils.
Minutes ticked by and Freddy swore that he would have heard a pin drop in the tense silence that settled in the room.
Licking his dry lips, he stared at the roof of his cage. "Finnick?" he whispered in a voice so low that he himself could barely hear it.
As a rabbit and a fox, they had excellent hearing, whereas the buffalo's was merely adequate, and he was counting on this advantage.
Straining his hearing, he waited; his gaze so focused on the metal roof above him, that he was surprised he didn't burn a hole through it.
"Who the hell are you?" Freddy heard the low response, just on the edge of his hearing.
"Nick and Judy sent me," he answered softly.
Silence was his only reply.
Freddy supposed there wasn't much left to say. The more they communicated, the greater the chances of them being caught.
Though, it was possible the fox was just a mammal of few words; never having met Finnick, he had no idea what to expect. His impression so far was of a fearless fighter of some sort, and someone who was braver than Freddy could ever hope to be.
"Can you see Jimmy?" Freddy asked. "I can't get close to the bars."
"Plan?" the fox wondered.
"Get the keys," he whispered in reply.
"Terrible fucking plan."
Freddy couldn't help but agree. Unfortunately, it was all he had. He waited to see if Finnick was going to offer up any suggestions or answer if he was able to see the buffalo, but the fox remained silent.
Hopeful that Finnick was going to help him, he sat back and waited.
"Rabbit!" the hissed snarl startled Freddy, the buck sitting up straight from where he had unknowingly fallen into a light doze, the adrenalin having ebbed from his system leaving him feeling exhausted and strained.
At the sound of Finnick's voice, his adrenalin spiked, and he was thrust into instant awareness.
Slinking to the bars of the cage, he slowly opened the door enough so that he could peek around and view where Jimmy was, and what he was doing.
Jimmy again sat in his chair, dozing.
Swallowing roughly, he slowly exited his hiding spot and edged down the line of cages, his mind furiously trying to come up with more of a plan than just: get the keys.
He knew the next step was releasing the mammals, but looking at the cages around him, he knew that it would be impossible for him to open all of them without being caught in some way.
Of course, that was dependant on being able to steal the keys in the first place.
Darting forward, he dashed beneath the chair Jimmy was sitting upon, heart feeling as if it wanted to escape from his chest, breathing coming out in soft, shaking gasps.
He calmed himself, crouched beneath the chair, staring hard at Jimmy's legs, alert for any changes in his position.
A snort followed by a snore alerted Freddy to Jimmy's continued napping.
Taking a deep breath, he mentally gathered himself. He looked between Jimmy's legs, his mind finally hitting upon the only plan it could.
Scanning the cages to his right, he could see every single mammal pressed up against their cage, waiting with desperate hope.
The weight of the moment settled across his narrow shoulders and he commanded his paws to stop shaking.
Catching the eyes of the bull elk, Freddy motioned to him and then Freddy pointed above his head to Jimmy.
Out of all the mammals in this room, the one most able to take down the buffalo would be the elk. He intended to let the pig and warthog out next, but the first cage Freddy intended to unlock was the elk's.
He would then worry about unlocking the smaller mammal cages while the elk dealt with Jimmy.
Or…hopefully dealt with Jimmy.
He wasn't sure if his message was received and he wasn't sure what kind of shape the elk was in, but he could hope that the elk was in a feisty, violent mood and wouldn't turn tail and try to bolt.
Where the elk would bolt to, he didn't know, but if the elk thought that he could go back the way Freddy had come, he would find himself very much mistaken.
Letting out a steadying breath, he grasped the leg of the chair and balanced on his left foot, leaning out from beneath the chair.
His gaze encountered Jimmy's hefty thigh, the keys hanging a few inches from his face.
Slowly reaching his paw out, he inched up towards the keys, pausing as he noted the keys were clipped to Jimmy's beltloop.
Licking his dry lips, he carefully pulled down on the metal tab, lifting them from the beltloop and carefully lowering them into his other paw so that they didn't jingle.
He had the keys.
There were ten of them.
They were colour coded.
Every colour of the rainbow plus silver, gold, and black.
Mentally kicking himself for not paying attention to the keys that were used to open the cages, he shook his head. It didn't matter.
He glanced at the elk. Bounding from beneath the chair, he raced to the cage and held up the key ring, fanning out the keys, keeping his finger over his lips.
The elk pointed at the indigo key and then motioned down to the two cages on either side of him.
Freddy nodded his understanding. The indigo key opened the cages that held the larger mammals.
Quickly unlocking the cage, he completed his task as quickly and quietly as he could.
Catching the elk's gaze again, he motioned between the elk and the buffalo, pantomiming leaping on Jimmy and holding him to the floor.
The elk looked dubious, but Freddy pointed at the cages with the pig and warthog and the elk nodded as he went to open his cage.
Holding up his paws, Freddy made a stopping motion. He wanted the elk to wait until he had unlocked the other two cages.
The elk gave another nod of understanding.
Placing the lock he had removed from the cage onto the floor inside the cage, Freddy moved to the warthog and then the pig.
Making sure all three mammals understood that they were to rush and subdue Jimmy, he was about to motion for them to exit the cages quietly, but he heard the quiet hiss of 'Rabbit,' that caused him to scramble across the floor and dive back into the cage, dragging the door closed behind him.
Closing his eyes in frustration, he acknowledged that it looked as if his luck had run out, the sound of the door bursting open, a trio of raised voices that were now familiar to Freddy's ears filling the room.
"Break time," Neil said as Jimmy let out a grumble of irritation.
"You guys all done in there?" Jimmy asked.
"Not yet," Neil admitted. "'bout another hour or so, then we'll bring in the sprayer."
Jimmy grunted and Freddy closed his eyes at the image that was formed at Neil's casually said words.
"You want anything?" a voice Freddy recognized as the mammal who was excited about Finnick's fighting prowess asked.
"Yeah," Jimmy answered. "Grab me a coffee from Snarlbucks and a blueberry scone."
"You got it," the voice answered as Freddy heard the shuffle of feet and the door close again.
Waiting patiently, he acknowledged that this was the best-case scenario. They didn't have to get past Neil, Frank, and Earl, just Jimmy.
Now he could only hope that the elk, pig, and warthog didn't do something stupid like trying to make a break for it through the doors that Freddy had entered through, not knowing that it was a dead end unless they had a key card.
Freddy crouched low when Jimmy walked past the rows of cages, before turning and making his way to the opposite side of the room, scanning the cages of the larger mammals.
"What the-?" came the surprised exclamation followed by the slam of cages bursting open.
Freddy launched himself from the cage, assessing as the elk tackled the buffalo, the pig darting behind Jimmy, getting in his way as the warthog slammed into Jimmy's side.
Leaping up, Freddy yanked the walkie-talkie from Jimmy's belt.
The three mammals kept up their struggle against Jimmy, who was snarling profanities and throwing punches.
The buffalo was stockier and a much better fighter than the elk, but the other three mammals were desperate.
Ignoring the frantic melee going on behind him, he jumped up to Finnick's cage, holding onto the bars with one paw.
Expecting a red fox, he was surprised to see the diminutive size, glaring brown eyes and large ears denoting a fennec fox. "Finnick?" he asked uncertainly.
"Get me the hell out of this cage," he snarled.
Freddy held up the keyring, ignoring the fox's surliness, figuring that he wouldn't be in the best mood either if he had been locked in a cage and forced to fight for his life.
"What colour?"
"Yellow," Finnick snapped. "Orange above me, green below me."
Freddy nodded in understanding, noting the red key and blue key went somewhere else, as did the violet, silver, gold, and black ones.
Quickly moving to the lock, he began the arduous task of unlocking the cages. Finnick had vanished as soon as his cage was opened, but Freddy suspected, from the sudden increase in cursing and grunts of pain, that the fox had thrown himself enthusiastically into the mix.
Lock after lock hit the floor as he told the released mammals not to leave the room, and if they couldn't help, to stay out of the way.
Letting the final lock fall, Freddy spun around to assess the situation.
"Is he okay?" Freddy found himself asking as he observed a bloody and beaten Jimmy, locked in the cage the elk had been occupying, his shirt used to tie his hooves, his belt wrapped around his feet.
"He'll live," Finnick growled, his muzzle and claws smeared with blood, some dried, some wet, some possibly his own if the injuries he had suffered were anything to go by. Though the injuries looked to have been from an earlier fight.
Freddy gave a nod and looked to the group of small, terrified mammals that were huddled together.
"What's the plan, Rabbit? How do we get out of here? And where are Nick and Judy?" Finnick asked in rapid-fire fashion.
Freddy gave a slow blink. "Nick and Judy are waiting outside," he replied. "At least… they were," he amended, since he didn't know how much time had passed, but knew it had been long enough that he doubted the two police officers had remained where he had left them.
"As for a plan, get everyone out of here somehow. I have no idea how we get out of here, but it isn't back the way I came unless Jimmy has a key card on him?" Freddy turned the last into a question.
"Yo, Antlers," Finnick called out. "Check that piece of shit's pockets."
The elk reached through the cage and rifled through the unconscious buffalo's pockets, shaking his head negative.
"Then we need to go out the way the other mammals left," Freddy affirmed with a nod.
"B-but the Pit's that way," whispered a shaking voice.
Glancing over his shoulder, Freddy recognized the meerkat from before.
"Suck it up, Stripes, you wanna stay here?" Finnick asked viciously. The meerkat shook his head and Finnick gave a nod. "Great. Anyone else wanna object, you can stay here, got it?"
Glances were given and soft murmurs of agreement reached Freddy's ears.
"What's the Pit?" Freddy asked.
"It's a round ring with high wooden walls where they throw mammals to fight to the death. It's got seating, betting, snacks, females, drinks, drugs, you know, all the sins," Finnick replied.
Freddy gave a nod of acknowledgement, his assumptions confirmed. "Anyone know the layout of this place past the doors?" he asked.
"We were driven into a loading bay of some sort," the warthog replied, "but I couldn't see much from the crates which were brought in here."
"Pit is at the end of a long hallway that doesn't have any other doors," Finnick added. "The Pit area has several doors around the ring. There's one where they stick us mammals who are fighting in the Pit. They got a room where they have the cleaning supplies and another one where they store the dead bodies. One has gotta lead to that loading bay, another one has gotta be how those fancy bastards get down here."
Freddy stared at Finnick in surprise, impressed by the fox's observational skills during what had to be an extremely terrifying and traumatic situation.
"What?" Finnick questioned. "It's ain't my first time in an illegal life or death fightin' ring," the fox offered with a shrug as he motioned with a paw for everyone to follow as he headed for the doors that Neil, Frank, and Earl had gone through.
"Right. Everyone follows Finnick. Keep quiet, keep low, and know that Neil, Frank, and Earl are coming back, and I'd prefer to be out of here before they do," Freddy told the assembled mammals.
Throwing the walkie-talkie to the elk, he told the bull to keep an ear out for any chatter.
Freddy knew that it would be unlikely that they would make it out of the basement without encountering any resistance.
It was possible that the four employees they had already encountered were the only ones down here, but Freddy doubted it, especially for such a complex operation.
He didn't voice these thoughts out loud, the twenty-seven mammals they were herding through the open doors were already traumatized and frightened enough without adding to it.
Freddy was grateful for Finnick. The fox had taken charge to a certain extent and he had knowledge of what was going on, which was a huge help. The fact that the fox seemed completely fearless was also acting like a balm to Freddy's nerves, giving him the confidence he needed to escape with all of these mammals in tow.
His mind, overworked and frayed, drifted to a movie he had watched when he was young; the heroic fox outwitting the Sheriff and freeing the unjustly imprisoned mammals whose only crime had been the inability to pay their taxes to the unjust king.
Freddy had freed the prisoners and thwarted the guard, but there was a long way to go before they could escape, and more guards to be encountered along the way.
Following the last of the mammals through the door and into the long hallway that led to the dreaded Pit, Freddy noticed that some of the mammals were struggling to walk let alone run.
"Come on," he said softly, helping a rabbit as other mammals in front of him aided the mammals who had obviously been locked in the cages longer than the others.
Through another set of double doors, they entered the Pit, or at least, the holding area of it.
Cages of various sizes were lined along one wall of the small-wood paneled room. A shudder slipped down Freddy's spine at the sight of the claw marks gouged into the linoleum floor and the catchpoles that were hanging on the wall used to subdue the mammals that were forced to fight.
An eerie silence fell over the assembled mammals. Some had made it to this room, others had only heard the stories, but this tiny area was nothing more than a prelude to even more horror, misery, and terror.
Walking through the set of doors at the far side of the room, Freddy got his first glimpse of the Pit.
It was exactly as Finnick had described it.
Wooden boards enclosed a circular area, doors flung wide for aid in cleaning, the bin of shaved woodchips sitting off to the side indicating that the cement floor was normally covered with it.
Attached to the top of the boards was a wire cage that completely enclosed the area. There were two different sized doors in the side that looked to be the same dimensions as the cages the mammals were kept in and this design aspect caused Freddy to shiver as he imagined the cages being wheeled up to the sliding doors, the cages opened to releasing the traumatized mammals into the arena.
The possibility of escape was non-existent.
Surrounding the arena in a semi-circle were three levels of plush stadium seating. Behind the seating were small, private rooms enclosed with tinted glass.
Freddy could imagine that the rooms contained all the luxuries of the private boxes common in sporting arenas such as catering, a bathroom, and a private bar.
Walking over to the large metal sliding door, he glanced over at Finnick, who stood very still, his ears moving as he listened to noises that Freddy believed were below his level of hearing.
Finnick's ears returned to their normal position and his body relaxed.
Freddy studied the door. He could imagine that it was large enough to drive a forklift through; the most likely vehicle used to transport the crates into the room with the cages.
Finnick walked to stand beside him, his eyes scanning the exterior of the door as there did not seem to be any obvious way to open it.
Finnick tried to pull the door along the track, the elk lending a hoof and not having any luck in opening the door.
"Shit!" Finnick snarled. "There's got to be some kind of remote that opens this thing and I bet the fuckers took it with them when they decided to leave," he ground out angrily. "There another way out, Rabbit?"
"Not sure," he replied with a shake of his head. "I hit a 'T' intersection in the hallway, you guys were one way, I didn't explore the other," he said with a shake of his head. "But if I were to make an educated guess, I'd say it leads to another door with a card reader because I'm pretty sure they aren't making their clients walk through the loading bay that is on the other side of this door."
Giving a grunt of acknowledgement, Finnick frowned. "As much as I don't want to admit it, we can't take out the hippo, jackal, and moose. One at a time, maybe, but not all at once, no matter that they are all a bunch of lazy fuckers."
"Then I guess we have no choice but to wait," Freddy reluctantly offered. "Hide in here and hope at least one of them delivers the Snarlbucks to Jimmy. We'd only have a few moments before Jimmy is found and the alarm is raised, but it might be all we need to get out of here," he offered. "We take the remote, then we lock them in here and run."
"Sounds like a half-assed plan, but better than nothin'," Finnick agreed. "But if we want a snowball's chance in Sahara Square of making it through the loading bay without them locking shit down, then we need to get the walkie-talkie and the door opener. Without those two things, we're fucked."
Freddy rubbed his eyes in resignation; Finnick was absolutely right. "What's the loading bay like?" he asked the room at large.
Mammals looked at each other and most shrugged.
"I couldn't see much out of the crate," the raccoon admitted.
"I was able to see a little," the elk offered.
"And?" Finnick prompted.
"There didn't seem to be too many mammals in the loading area. The forklift operator, the truck driver, the guards, and a mammal that was overseeing both the offloading of the truck and the placement of the crates by the forklift operator."
"How many guards?" Finnick wondered.
"Two that I saw, but there could be more," the elk replied.
"My guess would be that there wouldn't be anyone in the loading bay unless there was a shipment being received," Freddy pointed out.
"Maybe," Finnick conceded, "maybe not."
"There was a guard riding in the back of the truck when I was brought here," the meerkat informed them.
Finnick gave a sharp nod of understanding. "I was unconscious when I was brought here," he murmured.
"We figured out that the trucks are driving along an underground corridor between here and Happytown," Freddy informed him.
"Let me guess," Finnick began sarcastically, "the whole thing was being run out of that building that blew up in Happytown."
"That's what we think," Freddy agreed. "And we know they just started operations again, but we don't know out of where. Probably still a building in Happytown, but that means we would have to basically walk the entire route to Happytown to get out of here."
Soft groans were heard, and Freddy found he didn't blame them. Happytown was a long way away and the chances of them getting that far without either being detected along the way or being pursued was extremely low.
"But," Finnick said with a vicious grin, "I would bet money that those fuckers who just left didn't walk all the way to Happytown, which means there's a vehicle and a shorter route out of here."
"Soooo…door remote, car keys, walkie," Freddy said listing off the items they would need to make their escape.
"Bingo," Finnick said with a wink.
"Right," Freddy said glancing around, "we need a hiding spot where we can still see the door."
"Best place would be to stash everyone who isn't gonna jump the fuckers comin' through that door in the Pit. Hide around the curve where they won't be able to see them. The ones doing the ambush will hide behind the open doors of the Pit."
Freddy glanced towards the large wooden doors that had been pulled open and agreed that it would be the perfect place.
"Anyone who wants their pound of flesh, get your tails behind the door," Finnick ordered, pointing at the wooden door, "everyone else get in the Pit, lay low and keep your muzzles shut."
The assembled mammals broke into two groups. The elk, warthog, pig, a particularly bloodthirsty racoon, and the frightened weasel from before filed in behind the door, while the other mammals made their way cautiously into the Pit.
Freddy followed Finnick behind the door, knowing he wasn't necessarily going to be good in a fight, but he was small and quick. "I'll go for the door opener, keys and walkie."
"Hey, Weasel," Finnick called out.
"Erol," the weasel supplied.
"Whatever," Finnick waved away this information. "You help Rabbit here get those three things, even if it means ripping, tearing, and fighting as nasty as you gotta."
"What if the one who delivers Jimmy his coffee is the one with everything, or one or two of the items?" Freddy asked.
"Rabbit, you're gonna make the call. If we gotta take them all out, you are gonna need to let us know, so get your ass to the edge of the door. Antlers, if the moose stays in here, you are going for him, the rest of us will either take the jackal or hippo," Finnick strategized. "If we need to go for all three…hope we don't, because it's going to be a shit show."
Freddy swallowed roughly. This was going to be bad. He knew it.
Staring at the door, he glanced into the Pit, unable to see any of the other mammals.
He swallowed roughly as he thought about the horrors that had been perpetrated within the wooden walls.
"How do they get them to fight?" he inquired softly, not realizing he was going to ask the question until it slipped from his mouth.
Silence greeted his inquiry and Freddy regretted asking it.
He knew Finnick had fought and survived, and although the fox appeared to be cavalier about his experience, he had no idea if this was just an attitude adopted to hide the fox's real feelings or not.
"They drug 'em," Finnick replied.
"With what?" Finnick asked, glancing over at the fox crouched at his side, confused how being drugged would make mammals fight each other.
Finnick closed his eyes, his face creased with pain before the emotion was quickly replaced by anger.
Opening his eyes, Finnick continued. "You remember the whole Nighthowler thing, where predators were going crazy after being shot with that drug?" Finnick wondered.
Freddy's eyes widened in understanding.
"They have two different drugs. Feral Blue acts like a stimulant. They are hyped up on adrenaline and feel invincible. You are still you, just a really…amped up, crazed, angry, version. As for getting the mammals to fight, you'd be surprised how easy it is to convince someone to fight to the death if prompted," Finnick murmured grimly. "But the mammals on Feral Red…they are another kind of animal.
The Nighthowler drug made the mammals go crazy. They completely lost themselves, but they only attacked because they were threatened and scared. The mammals on Feral Red are vicious, violent, mindless beasts; nothing more than pure instinct. But unlike the Nighthowler drug, they have heightened senses, increased speed and strength, a hunger for flesh and blood and the insatiable need to rend anything that moves into itty-bitty pieces."
Freddy took a deep breath, unable to fathom the horror that the mammals he had rescued had suffered.
"In short, they're monsters," Finnick finished.
"Did they drug you?"
"No," Finnick answered roughly. "I fought in the Blue matches, which are the starter fights. They have the largest crowds because they have the cheapest buy-in of all the matches. Sometimes they drug both mammals, other times it's only one of them, sometimes it's more than two mammals in the arena, it depends, they like to switch things up to keep things interesting. Red matches are the same from what I heard, but better clientele," he murmured. "Eventually the drugs wear off, then all that's left is the horror of what you did," Finnick whispered in a voice that was so quiet, Freddy was fairly sure it was not meant for anyone's ears but Finnick's.
Eyes widening in sudden understanding, the pieces of the puzzle fell together. The colours of the dry-cleaning tags corresponded to the type of match and the drugs being used in them.
Opening his mouth to ask about the Black matches, his question went unuttered as Finnick suddenly tensed, his ears quivering slightly, and Freddy quickly turned his attention back to the door.
A few moments later, the door slowly slid open on its track and Freddy crouched as low as he could, his eyes trained upon the mammals as they strolled through the door, which rolled shut behind them.
Neil carried a tray with two coffee cups from Snarlbucks, Earl and Frank (he wasn't sure which mammal was which) each with their own coffees, walked in behind the hippopotamus.
Eyes darting across their forms, Freddy located the walkie-talkie on the jackal's hip. The door opener, a metal rectangle with two circular buttons, one green, one red, was in the moose's hoof; of the keys he found no sign.
Wracked with indecision, he questioned if he should take the chance that Neil didn't have the keys and wait for him to go into the room where Jimmy was tied up, or if he should give the signal that they had to ambush all of them just in case the keys were in fact with Neil.
He hesitated and realized that he had no choice. Letting Neil into the room with Jimmy was too risky. Given the assemblage of mammals willing to fight, they wouldn't be able to take down Frank and Earl before Neil realized something was wrong and released Jimmy. If that happened, they were never leaving this room.
"Three," he hissed, hoping that everyone understood that they were attacking all three, and knowing that even if they didn't, they would figure it out soon enough.
The elk slammed his hooves against the door they were hiding behind, causing it to swing closed, exposing them and momentarily startling the three targets.
Frank, Earl, and Neil all yelped and jumped; Neil dropping the tray of coffees, the jackal spilling his coffee down his front, the moose managing to retain his grip on his coffee and not spilling even a drop, until the elk smashed into him, knocking him to the floor.
Finnick went right for the jackal's throat, the racoon giving a holler of glee as he leapt for Neil's legs, trying to topple the hippopotamus and only succeeding in causing the large mammal to dance away.
The warthog and pig charged Neil, trying to help the racoon, while Freddy deemed the walkie-talkie of greater import than the door opener. He darted out and shifted his body so that his feet slammed into the jackal's chest.
It was true that rabbits were not known for their fighting skills, but if push came to shove, a rabbit could pack a good wallop with their feet. The result upon the jackal was devastating as the wind was knocked from the predator, who stumbled back and slammed to the ground.
The weasel, Erol, threw himself upon the struggling jackal who was still trying to regain his breath, the weasel keeping the jackal's paws away from Finnick who had let go of the jackal's throat at Freddy's attack and was now going for the jackal's face.
Freddy was able to easily tear the walkie-talkie from the jackal's belt before he was able to call for help.
Finnick was thrown from the jackal's face as sharp claws batted the fennec fox away.
Clipping the walkie0talkie to his hip, Freddy leapt forward, landing on the jackal's stomach, and bouncing off as the jackal curled into a pained ball that he quickly recovered from.
Erol was thrown off by a furious, clawed paw, the jackal struggling to stand, when Finnick landed a brutal kick to the side of the jackal's head.
The jackal suddenly went limp and Freddy and Erol cautiously scrambled to their feet.
Finnick gave the jackal's head another kick, 'just to make sure he's good and out.'
Staring at the unconscious jackal a moment, Freddy knelt and searched the jackal, finding a set of keys that belonged to a vehicle.
Tucking the keys into his pocket, he turned his attention to the other mammals tackling Neil and the moose.
Voices were raised in angry shouts, snarling growls of pain, grunts of effort, and the maniacal laughter of the racoon.
Freddy strongly believed that the racoon may be a few tools short of a full toolbox but was thankful he was on their side.
Finnick was already charging Neil, who was leaping around, trying to avoid the warthog's tusks and the small, pointy claws and teeth of the racoon.
The pig was now helping the elk subdue the moose with little success, both large mammals having their horns locked awkwardly in a back and forth battle of strength that the elk was losing, even with the pig attempting to trip up the larger mammal.
Searching frantically for the door opener, Freddy noted that it was no longer in the moose's hoof.
Eyes scanning the ground, he spotted the device sitting in a puddle of coffee a few feet away from where the elk, moose, and pig struggled.
"Help with the moose," Freddy ordered Erol as he deftly avoided being crushed by flailing legs as both elk and moose crashed to the ground.
Sliding through cooling coffee, Freddy was able to snatch up the door opener, hoping that it was waterproof, otherwise they were totally screwed.
Shaking the coffee from the door opener, he shoved it in the band of his pants.
Burdened with the two bulky objects at his hips, Freddy knew he would be useless in helping the other mammals subdue the moose and Neil.
"Say nighty-night," Finnick growled as he and Erol together placed the moose in a choke hold, the pig holding onto the flailing moose's legs for dear life, the elk pinning the moose to the ground.
The moose went limp and Finnick didn't miss a beat, letting go of the moose's neck and bounding over to Neil, who was still avoiding the warthog while the racoon clung to Neil's back, and scaled him like a mountain.
Freddy quickly searched the moose in case there was more than one vehicle but came up empty.
Finnick launched himself at Neil and grabbed the hippopotamus' snout in a clawed hold, and snarled, "You had better listen and listen good."
Neil's eyes, wide as saucers, stared at the fennec fox, immediately ceasing his movements as he intently waited for Finnick's next words.
"You are going to drag your two buddies here into the Pit and you are then going to let us lock you in the Pit. If you resist, or if you even think about trying anything funny, I will tear your face off, and don't think I won't do it," he threated as Neil turned three shades paler. "Crazy Pants," Finnick called out to the racoon, "you stay with him and make sure he doesn't do anything funny, and if he does, remove a few digits to keep him honest. Tusks, feel free to help, and don't hold back on goring the really important bits," Finnick said with a leer that caused Neil to give a squeak of horror as he covered his crotch.
"You'll never-" Neil began to argue.
"Get outta here?" Finnick questioned dangerously. "Oh, we will, don't worry your pretty little head about it," Finnick smiled sweetly, showing off his razor-sharp teeth. "Now, get your ass moving!" he snapped as he let go of the hippopotamus, easily landing on the ground.
The warthog bent his head low and jammed his tusks into Neil's ass causing the hippopotamus to yelp in pain and stumble forward towards the unconscious moose.
"You got any keys to a vehicle?" Finnick asked Neil, who shook his head back and forth. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Neil swore he didn't. Finnick waved him away.
Leaning down, the raccoon, now situated on Neil's shoulder, mused that Neil didn't really need two eyes to complete his task, causing Neil to quickly grab the moose under his shoulders and drag him towards the Pit.
Herding the exhausted, injured, and frightened mammals from where they had been cowering in the Pit, Freddy flicked a glance towards the sliding door with a mixture of relief and apprehension.
"I can't believe we did it," he mumbled more to himself than anyone else, but the fennec fox heard him.
"Only reason we won was 'cause that hippo was a fucking wuss," Finnick pointed out in a grim voice. "If he had fought back, we woulda lost."
Freddy knew that the fox was right. Finnick was favouring his left side, the other combatants looking worse for wear as well with various lacerations from sharp claws and brutal horns.
He would argue that Neil, Frank, and Earl had suffered the brunt of the injuries, streaks of bright crimson smeared across the previously clean floor a testament to the violence that had just been perpetrated.
Neil's task was accomplished in a relatively short amount of time, Freddy finding the keys to a vehicle in the moose's pocket.
Finnick slid the bolt home on the doors to the Pit, a wicked grin of satisfaction on his face as he locked it with a padlock.
"You ready?" Freddy asked the fennec fox, who gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"Let's get the fuck outta this place," Finnick agreed looking over the assembled mammals.
Freddy pulled the door opener from the band of his pants and pushed the green button.
Slowly, the metal door began to slide along the tracks revealing what lay beyond.
The area wasn't as big as he thought it would be, a rectangular room with concrete floors, walls and ceiling, but it was large enough to hold more than a few crates, a forklift, and a one-ton truck.
There was only one exit, a circular tunnel lit with dim rectangular fluorescent lighting, affixed to the ceiling.
The loading bay was eerily quiet and empty of anyone other than themselves, for which Freddy was thankful for.
Hitting the red button on his remote, Freddy watched the metal door slowly slide shut, trapping Jimmy, Earl, Frank, and Neil for the moment.
He honestly didn't think the mammals who had fought could take anymore, and if they ran into armed guards, they were pretty much dead; one way or another.
Pressing the unlock button on the key remote, the vehicle gave a little beep of acknowledgement and he began ushering mammals into the vehicle.
"Antlers, you drive," Finnick ordered, and Freddy tossed the elk the keys.
It made sense to let the larger mammal drive the larger vehicle.
"I'll ride shotgun with rabbit, Tusks, you settle everyone into the back." Finnick waved the warthog away and climbed into the cab of the truck and Freddy wondered if it was just his imagination or if Finnick looked a little less energetic than he had a few minutes ago.
"You okay?" Freddy asked in worry, tossing the door opener and the radio before hopping up next to him, his eyes straying to Finnick's torn, black button-up shirt.
"Don't worry about it, Rabbit, it's just a scratch," he replied dismissively, his expression indicating that any further questioning would be heavily rebuffed.
"Okay," Freddy said, lifting his paws in surrender and turning his attention to the interior of the cab that smelled like coffee, stale food, and old cloth.
Freddy wrinkled his nose in disgust as his eyes scanned past the GPS unit, down to the radio and then to the cup holders full of takeout garbage.
A double thump against the back of the cab indicated the mammals were all settled in and ready to go.
"Antlers, pedal to the metal," Finnick ordered. "Let's get the fuck outta here."
"Got it," the elk answered, turning over the engine, country music blaring through the speakers as the elk stepped on the gas, the truck lurching forward.
Driving down the circular concrete tunnel, the elk stopped when he reached a 'T' intersection.
"Left or right?" the elk asked.
"Right," Freddy replied quickly, the elk giving him a dubious look.
"Happytown is West, which is left. And we don't want to go that way," Freddy answered.
The elk turned right, speeding down the tunnel, the flickering of yellow spilling into the interior as they passed under each rectangular bar of light.
The tunnel wasn't very long, and the elk slowed the truck as he came to a larger, rectangular area. It was big enough for the truck to turn around and appeared to be a dead end.
Turning off the engine, the elk gave them an inquiring look. Finnick leaned over and took the keys from the ignition. "Can't hurt to hold onto these," he said shoving the keys in his pocket.
Opening the door, Freddy hopped out and motioned for the other mammals to stay put as they began hopping out of the back.
Tucked away in the corner was a metal maintenance door, which he cautiously approached. Reaching out, he gently pushed on the bar, causing the door to open outwards.
Crouching low and sticking his head out, he noted that the door led to an empty stairwell.
Motioning with his paw to indicate that the coast was clear, he heard the rest of the mammals scrambling out of the back of the truck.
"What's through there?" Finnick asked him gruffly.
"Stairwell," he replied as he slipped through the door and held it open, ushering mammals through.
Looking up the three flights of stairs, he watched the lines of mammals as they slowly made their way upwards.
Leaving his post, Freddy threaded his way through the mammals and stopped when he reached the landing; another metal door blocking their progress.
Letting out a nervous breath, Freddy slowly opened the door, revealing a subway platform.
Cautioning the mammals behind him, Freddy exited onto the platform, his ears straight up and at attention, listening for anything to let him know if there was a train coming, or if there was anyone around, friendly or otherwise.
A soft rumbling could be heard and the ground began to shake slightly, causing Freddy's breath to catch in his throat momentarily until he realized that he had emerged onto an abandoned platform, but that there was an active subway line close by.
Edging his way further along the platform, he noted the name of the station, 'Canyon Way', spelled out in cut glass on the opposite wall.
Freddy knew they were still in Sahara Square, but he didn't know where they were, not recognizing the street or location from the name of the station.
Turning his attention back to the more important task of escaping, he spotted the wide, red tiled stairs with gold handrails that led out of the station, the elk holding the door open.
"Be careful and be quiet," Freddy cautioned as he motioned for the mammals to make their way towards the exit.
Leading the group, Finnick taking up the rear, they cautiously climbed the stairs, the intricate tilework reminding Freddy of the architectural style used fifty years ago.
Reaching the top, he hopped over an old turnstile; to his left stood a wood paneled ticket booth, the glass grey with age.
A set of wooden double doors chained shut stood between them and their freedom.
Sprinting to the door, Freddy inspected the padlock, pulling out Jimmy's keys, and searching for the right one.
Suspecting that the red, blue, and black keys were for the cages in the holding area of the pit, he was left with the option of violet, silver, or gold. He tried the silver key first but was unable to fit it into the lock. Staring at it, he guessed that it was for the doors they had been able to easily pass through unimpeded.
The gold key opened the padlock and Freddy pulled the chain from the door, allowing it to fall to the floor completely unheeded.
The elk pushed open the door, daylight spilling onto the floor causing the mammals behind him to dash for their freedom, only to skid to a stop and stumble back into the building, two cougars dressed in tactical gear and armed with pawguns, coming into view.
"What the-?" the cougar on the right wondered, lifting his gun and entering the building, followed close behind by the second cougar, the door closing behind them.
Freddy didn't think about what he was going to do, reacting to the terror and defeat etched into the faces of the mammals scrambling away from the armed guards.
Charging forward, a gunshot rang out as he and Finnick attacked the cougar on the right as the raccoon and the elk took the one on the left.
Freddy shouted, "Go!" as he bounced up and kicked the cougar in the head, allowing the smaller mammals to surge around the combatants and escape through the doors.
The cougar stumbled back, but quickly regained his balance. Ignoring Freddy and Finnick, the cougar quickly turned and aimed his gun at the fleeing mammals.
"Stop, or I'll-" Finnick dove forward and bit the cougar in the back of the thigh.
The cougar screamed in pain, twisting around, trying to get Finnick to let go by using the butt of his gun to knock the fox free, but Finnick did not let go.
Freddy rushed forward and dug his claws into the thick canvas of the cougar's pants, giving himself some leverage as he leapt up and bit the cougar in the neck.
Claws dug into his side and he was torn away, the taste of blood in his mouth, his body twisting in mid-air as he tried to right himself before slamming into the ground.
Hitting the tile hard, the breath was knocked from his lungs, his chest a mass of throbbing pain. He forced his protesting body to get back up as Finnick was knocked to the ground.
Dragging himself to his feet, he darted forward. The roar of a gunshot echoed through the room, burning pain suddenly tearing through him, his body flying backwards and crashing into the tile.
His vision went black for a moment, his ears ringing painfully, the cougar looking smug as he swung the barrel of the gun at Finnick.
The smile dropped from the cougar's face as a chain was suddenly thrown around the guard's throat.
The gun went off, the bullet harmlessly striking the tile a few feet away, the elk hauling back hard on the chain, strangling the cougar.
"Drop the gun," the elk ordered with a grunt of effort, "or I keep pulling until you stop breathing," he threatened.
The gun was thrown on the ground but was quickly scooped up by the racoon who already had one gun and now had both cougar's weapons. "Oh…yeah," the raccoon breath out with a manic grin on his face.
The elk loosened the chain slightly, the racoon pointing the guns at the cougar, ordering him to sit on the ground beside his unconscious partner who was out of Freddy's line of sight.
Finnick straightened from his position and slowly looked over his shoulder at him, a bleak expression on his face.
Freddy could feel the warmth pooling beneath his head, and he was pretty sure it was blood.
"Damn it," Finnick snarled under his breath, stalking over to him.
Freddy groaned as he tried to move.
"He okay?" the elk asked in concern.
"He's alive," Finnick replied, his eyes flicking over Freddy's injuries, a frown marring his features.
The elk sucked in a gasp of air as Freddy shifted, lifting his head from the ground, the world swaying slightly.
"Hurts…" Freddy mumbled out as he made another listless attempt to move.
"Yeah, I know," Finnick said as he helped Freddy get unsteadily to his feet. Finnick pulled his paw away from where it had rested briefly against Freddy's chest, fresh blood coating his paw pads. "We gotta go," he urged, placing his paw back on Freddy's chest to staunch the flow of blood.
"What about the-" Freddy began, closing his eyes as the ringing in his head lessened, even though the pain that blazed like a hot poker increased with his movement.
"Chained up," Finnick answered.
Freddy looking back at the two predators. One was unconscious, the other was glaring at them, the raccoon pointing a gun at them in warning.
The elk pushed open the door and walked outside, Finnick following with Freddy, the raccoon bringing up the rear.
Freddy gave a cursory glance at the non-descript, derelict, red brick building that they had emerged from.
Plywood covered the windows and gang tags were painted on the brick along with other colourful bits of graffiti.
"We got lucky," Finnick grumbled out. "They were guarding against anyone going in, not coming out. We caught them by surprise."
Freddy allowed that information to percolate in his mind as the ringing in his head lessened to a dull throb.
"My ear?" he questioned as he brought his paw up to his left ear.
"Yeah, part of it got blown off," the raccoon answered cavalierly.
"Oh," Freddy said in a small voice and Finnick gave Freddy a quick, frowning glance.
"I mean, most of it's still there," Finnick assured him. "Just…a bunny-sized fist is missing from the outer edge of your ear."
"Okay," Freddy said, stumbling slightly, causing Finnick to let out a grunt. "I feel weird," he complained.
"Just a little further," Finnick soothed, looking over at the elk who continued glancing over his shoulder at the doors, as if waiting for them to be thrown wide and for more armed mammals to spill out into the alley.
Trailing after the elk, they wound their way through a distributing district that looked to have seen better days before emerging onto Palm Ave, the main road that ran right past the Palm Hotel.
By the time they reached the street, the mammals had managed to flag down a group of antelope and had gotten them to call 911.
Freddy felt his knees gave way and he collapsed on the pavement.
"You okay, Rabbit?" Finnick asked him.
"We made it," he replied softly, feeling lightheaded, his head pounding as he wondered how much blood he had lost.
"Yeah," Finnick agreed, the sound of sirens echoing in the distance as they watched a crowd gather around them, cell phones recording everything while others attempted to aide or comfort the former captives. "Surprised me too," Finnick admitted. "Guess your shitty plan worked," he mused with a smirk before he winced in pain, lifting his shirt and looking over his shoulder at something Freddy was unable to see.
"Are you okay?" he asked in concern.
"I'm fine," Finnick waved off Freddy's worry.
Freddy was about to object to Finnick's assertion that he was fine, but anything he was about to say was suddenly lost in the chaos that erupted around them as ambulances and police cruisers arrived.
Police officers began taking statements and paramedics began ushering mammals to ambulances; the crowds around them thickened as officers tried to keep the onlookers away from the mammals in need of assistance.
Finnick attempted to pull him up off the ground, the elk and raccoon having vanished into the throng of mammals, but Freddy resisted the movement, nausea rolling through him, his world swimming alarmingly.
"We need a medic over here!" Finnick shouted, trying to wave down one of the paramedics.
Freddy, feeling oddly disconnected, surveyed the crowd, looking for a grey bunny or a red fox and found neither mammal.
A doe deer paramedic knelt before him, giving a cursory glance at his injuries.
"You need to go to the hospital," she informed him. "I'll be back with a stretcher-"
"Who's in charge here?" Freddy interrupted, not recognizing any of the officers that were milling around.
He was pointed in the direction of a jaguar he did not recognize.
"Watch him and keep pressure on his wound," the doe instructed as she stood and ran back to her ambulance.
"I only see Precinct Five uniforms," Freddy murmured.
"That bad?" Finnick asked, obviously noting a certain something in Freddy's voice.
"Not one-hundred percent sure it's good," he replied.
"You gonna explain that?" Finnick asked.
"Later," he replied, his eyes continuing to scan the crowd, apprehension beginning to build. Freddy didn't believe that Precinct Five was corrupt, but knowing that the wolf who had murdered Officer Growle had worn a Precinct Five uniform caused his muscles to tense and his eyes to follow the officers suspiciously.
"I don't see them," Freddy observed as a sliver of dread began to crawl its way along his spine. "They should be here," he muttered more to himself than to Finnick. "I mean…" he looked at the sky, trying to determine how long it had taken him to get out of the basement, and judging by the darkening sky, it had been hours. "I get that they wouldn't have been able to find me, but I would have thought they would have called in the police to raid the casino once I didn't show back up after thirty minutes."
Finnick smirked. "Figured we were under a casino," he said to himself before he gave a shrug. "Maybe they did and the police didn't find anything and they went back home," Finnick suggested.
"You don't even believe that," Freddy mumbled, his heart sinking into the pit of his stomach.
Finnick's ears suddenly perked up and Freddy scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face, his eyes alighting upon Chief Bogo.
"We need to talk to him," Freddy said, pointing to the Cape buffalo, and currently, the only police officer he trusted.
The imposing buffalo was talking with the jaguar, giving orders to Precinct One officers, and sweeping his gaze across the scene with a discerning eye.
Finnick put up his hand and waved the buffalo over.
Excusing himself from the jaguar, Chief Bogo quickly made his way to their side.
"You need a paramedic," the buffalo stated.
Freddy waved this detail away. "Not important," he said spotting the doe with a lynx pushing a stretcher towards him.
"I know you, don't I?" Chief Bogo asked as he shifted his weight so that he was leaning down to better hear him as the noise reverberating around them was drowning out Freddy's pained voice.
"I'm the bike messenger that delivers to Precinct One. I took over for Wally," he added, though by the confused look on Chief Bogo's face, the reference didn't help.
"This idiot's the one who saved all of us," Finnick interjected, his voice strained. "Nick and Judy sent him in. Don't suppose you know where those two are, because they aren't here, and they should be."
Chief Bogo's expression shifted from intent to grim. "You must be Finnick," he stated.
Finnick gave a sharp nod of his head even though the buffalo hadn't actually asked.
"We need to get him up on the stretcher and to a hospital," the doe said to Chief Bogo apologetically.
"Do what you can here," Freddy ground out. "I can't go to a hospital."
"Listen, you did good, let us handle the rest, okay?" Chief Bogo soothed.
"But it's been hours since I saw them!" Freddy insisted, the lynx helping him onto the stretcher, lifting it up so that the doe could better assess his injuries.
"We really need to go," the lynx insisted.
"Just stitch me up here," Freddy ground out.
"There could be internal damage," the doe protested. "You could go into hypovolemic shock, and your ear-"
"Just, do what you can," Freddy hissed, turning his attention away from the stunned paramedics. "Listen, Chief Bogo, this is important," he ground out as his shirt was moved and the four large lacerations were probed by the annoyed lynx. A needle was inserted into his torso and he bit back a scream as the liquid burned under his skin. Collecting himself enough to form words, he explained, "The plan was for them to come looking for me after thirty minutes and to call you guys in. I'm guessing they didn't, which means they might have gone into the casino and didn't come out."
Chief Bogo gave a nod of understanding. "Okay. I understand," he said gently. "An officer will take your statement," he addressed this to Finnick," and someone will take yours from the hospital." He frowned. "I'd like to know how a bike messenger got roped into this whole mess, but later," he inflected angrily. "I'll put out a Zootopia wide APB to search for our two missing officers and get a warrant to search the casino and seize the security footage."
"Okay," Freddy agreed, relaxing as his eyes darted down the street to where the Palm stood majestically over Sahara Square, the sun having sunk lower, nearly dipping below the horizon.
Chief Bogo straightened to his full height and turned, striding back into the crowd of officers that had begun to gather, shouting more orders and delegating tasks in an effort to catch whoever had done this to the mammals Freddy had rescued, and find Judy and Nick.
"You going to get your wounds looked after?" Freddy asked Finnick, digging his claws into his palm and giving a whimper of agony as the doe moved his ear.
"This needs to be splinted and stitched," the doe explained in a disapproving voice.
"I'm good," Finnick replied, watching the doe with disgusted fascination. "I don't do hospitals or doctors."
"So, you're not going to die on me?" Freddy asked with a joking lilt to his voice.
"Of the two of us, you have a better chance of kicking it than me," Finnick replied.
Freddy gave a slight smile and closed his eyes for a moment against the black spots that had begun to dance before his eyes.
He could no longer feel his left ear, or most of his torso, and that was probably a good thing. Opening his eyes, he looked towards Finnick and slowly sat up.
"You need to go to the hospital," the lynx insisted.
"Later," Freddy promised.
"Are you refusing medical advice and treatment?" the doe asked in a clipped tone.
"Yeah," Freddy said as he motioned for either the lynx or the deer to put him on the ground.
The lynx lifted him down and he nearly collapsed, but somehow managed to stay on his feet. He knew once the adrenalin and lidocaine wore off, he was going to be in a world of hurt, but right now, all that mattered was finding his missing friends.
"I'm guessing this means you're coming with me?" Finnick questioned.
"Judy and Nick are out there somewhere and in trouble because of me," he bit out guiltily.
"And all these mammals -including me- are alive because you were insane enough and smart enough to find us," Finnick pointed out. "Which is the only reason I'm allowing you to come along, because if anyone can figure out where they are, it's you," he affirmed, scanning Freddy from head to toe before observing, "That, and you seem oddly okay if you die trying to find them. Which is weird 'cause I've never heard… Wait," he said eyes widening, "are you that buck who got Nick all twisted into knots by sniffing around Bunny Cop?"
"Uh…yes?" he answered as more of a question.
"And you think coming to Bunny Cop's rescue is going to get you in good with her?" Finnick asked, his voice changing from amused to dangerous and biting.
"What?! No! Definitely not," he refuted.
Finnick's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Honest. We're just friends," he promised. "And I don't want Nick to eat me," he added and Finnick suddenly gave a wicked grin.
"You know," he mused.
Freddy was about to ask, 'Know what?' before understanding bloomed in his mind and he smirked. "Team Wilde-Hopps all the way," he said, and he got the impression that the fennec fox approved of him somehow.
"Well then, let's go before you drop dead of blood loss or something," Finnick waved his arm indicating for him to follow.
"Where are we going?" he asked, slowly trailing after the fox as he wove in and out of the police officers and paramedics who were all occupied with their tasks. "And shouldn't we give our statements first?"
Finnick threw a sneer over his shoulder. "I'm not helpin' the Fuzz," he hissed.
"Your two best friends are 'the Fuzz'," Freddy pointed out reasonably as he walked beneath the police tape that had been used to cordon off the area.
Finnick gave him a look that could melt stone.
"Point is," Finnick began, completely ignoring Freddy's observation, "I'm not going to sit around waiting for them to get their shit together and find Nick and Bunny Cop. And you are obviously thinking the same thing because if you weren't, you would've gone to the hospital," he pointed out.
Freddy let out a huff of acknowledgement, his gait unsteady, his vision blurring alarmingly.
"You're going to have to slow down," Freddy ground out, clutching at his chest as the numbness began to wear off and the pain began to build. "And you didn't answer where we are going," he accused, altering his pace until he stopped, standing in the middle of an alley.
"You can't do this, Rabbit, I'll leave you behind," Finnick growled.
"I found you, you said you need my brain, so just…stop. We need a plan and to figure this out. Also, I need to know how badly you're hurt," Freddy prompted.
"Don't worry about me, worry about yourself."
"I know I'm in rough shape," Freddy pointed out, "which means you're the muscle and I need to know if you can fight."
"I can fight," Finnick assured him.
Freddy threw him a glare.
Finnick rolled his eyes. "Bruises, few lacerations and punctures, not even close to as bad as yours," he admitted. "Trust me, I can still fight."
Freddy gave an internal sigh of resignation. "We can't just stroll back into the casino-"
"Which casino?" Finnick interrupted.
"The Palm," Freddy answered.
"Fine. You take me to where you got in, we go from there. We know they aren't in the basement, so that's one place we don't have to look."
"We don't know that for sure," Freddy sighed in resignation as he began leading Finnick to the alley where he had last seen Nick and Judy. "There was at least one hallway I didn't explore, and it's possible that they grabbed both of them and smuggled them straight to Happytown."
Freddy heard a low growl come from deep within Finnick's chest in response to his words.
The rumble was quickly cut off and Freddy looked behind him in concern when Finnick vanished from his side.
Finnick stood in the alley, a look of blank comprehension blossoming into devastating horror. "The Black event," he whispered in a strangled voice.
Freddy recognized the term but had no idea what it meant other than it somehow pertained to the mammal fighting ring.
"I don't know what that is," Freddy responded in a concerned voice.
The fennec fox remained disturbingly silent, and though Freddy wished to prompt him, he instead waited until Finnick was ready to speak.
Finnick stared at the pavement for a moment before he spoke. "Black events are the ones with the most elite clientele. They are more expensive, exclusive, and they aren't held in the Pit."
"Wait… Are you saying that you think they grabbed Nick and Judy and are using them for the Black event?" Freddy asked with growing dismay.
"Seems too coincidental that they cancelled the Red event for tonight and are throwing a Black event instead and Nick and Judy are missing," Finnick stated grimly.
Heart pounding in trepidation, Freddy asked, "What is a Black event?"
Finnick took a few moments to answer, and when he did, Freddy felt the blood drain from his face.
"It's a hunt."
The implications of Finnick's words caused his mind to fall into a roiling mass of emotions and partially formed thoughts.
Giving a slow blink, he hesitantly asked, "Do you know when the Black events start?"
"No idea. Sometime after dark," Finnick replied, glancing up at the darkening sky.
"I think I have an idea, but you're not going to like it."
"Try me."
"You have to go back."
"Go back where?" Finnick asked hesitantly.
"You need to go back to the truck," he said. "According to Frank or Earl, they took some mammals in cages somewhere for the Black event. There's a GPS unit in the truck, hopefully you can use it to see where they went," he explained.
"What are you going to do?" Finnick asked catching onto the fact that Freddy hadn't said he was going to go, only Finnick.
Freddy gave a self-depreciating smile. "I'll only slow you down," he replied truthfully. "I'm going to rally the troops and try to figure out where you are headed. I think I can do that based on where the tunnel is. When you find the location, get a phone and call 911."
"Where am I supposed to find a phone?" Finnick asked in irritation.
"I'm sure it won't be the first thing you've ever stolen," Freddy pointed out reasonably.
Finnick gave a snort and a genuine smile.
"Find them and rescue them," he pleaded, tossing Finnick Jimmy's keys, "and don't get yourself killed in the process."
"I will," Finnick agreed with a nod as he spun on his heel and dashed down the street. "And, Rabbit," he threw over his shoulder, "when I get back, I'd better not hear that you died on me," he growled as his form was swallowed up by the shadows of the darkened alley.
Freddy gave a grim smile, still clutching at his chest, damp with fresh blood. "I'm trying not to," he murmured, turning around, and heading towards the flashing lights of the police cars and ambulances that lit up the twilight sky.
He concentrated on placing one foot in front of the other. His vision was blurred, his heart was racing, and his body felt weakened to the point of collapse.
Gritting his teeth, he placed a paw against the rough brick of the building, using it to keep himself upright, determined to make it back to Chief Bogo and help in any way he could.
Stumbling out onto the sidewalk, he fell to his knees, the jarring action causing him to let out a cry of agony.
Struggling to stay conscious, he heard shouts raised in panic, paws gently lifting him to his feet and helping him forward, back through the police tape and onto a stretcher.
"I need a piece of paper and a pen," he bit out, a leopard shouting at his partner as he tore away at Freddy's bloodied bandages.
"You need to go to the hospital," the leopard insisted.
"I know, but this is life and death," he pleaded.
The leopard swore profusely under his breath, but a pen and paper were quickly provided.
With shaking paws, Freddy drew a very rough map.
"Give this to Chief Bogo, I think it'll help in his search of the missing police officers," he asserted. "Please."
The leopard snatched up the bloodied sheet of paper and looked around desperately. "Hey!" he ran forward flagging down a passing Precinct One officer. "Get this to Chief Bogo. The rabbit thinks it could help find the missing officers," he said shoving the paper into the Lions' paw.
The lion shot a quick glance at Freddy before surging into the crowd.
Freddy let out a sigh of relief and his world went black.
Yay! Finnick is back!
I know, still no Nick and Judy, but rest assured our heroes are in the next chapter!