It's been forever since Mrs. Wilde made her call to the mammal whom I'm assuming was Senator Bogo, but why would she have called him, especially considering that he refused to help either of us the first time we saw him?
On another tack, when are we going to be able to get the heck out of here? I'm cold and hungry and cranky, and I just want to get out of here!
"Hey, Mom?" I hear Judy ask from her cell near mine. "When are we going to get the heck out of here?"
Hey, I guess she was thinking the same thing that I was thinking…
"Hopefully soon, dear," Mrs. Wilde says. "Hopefully."
"Hey, you, fox!" another guard says, noticing that Mrs. Wilde's done with her phone call. "Get back to your damn cell! How the hell did you even get out of there in the first place?"
Smoothing down her pants and shirt calmly, she turns to the guard with a snarky, and yet completely submissive look on her face, and says, "Well, sir, I can't have gotten out when I was never put in in the first place, you know, so would you like to do the honors?"
"Gladly," the officer says, coming over with open cuffs in paw to slap on Mrs. Wilde so that he can lead her away when the phone rings, and everyone looks at it in surprise, even the receptionist, a cheetah whose nameplate reads Clawhauser and who looks like he hasn't had a decent meal in forever.
I guess that's just a by-product of the system, but it shouldn't be, and honestly, even though his life is probably pretty scatty, he's lucky that he's alive. I know my Mom probably thinks I know nothing about how predators are treated in Zootopia proper, but there's no other way to get those burn marks like that on one's neck or the ring around the muzzle like that.
"Clawhauser, would you be so kind as to get that?" one of the officers asks, and the cheetah nods.
"O- oh, of course, sir," he says, saluting and then getting up from the desk, the chain around his ankle keeping him bound… what could he have done? This just isn't right….
"Precinct Thirteen, this is Clawhauser," the cheetah says, and then takes the phone as a booming voice comes through the speaker end of the phone, a deep, booming one that I recognize, and I recognize as that of the stubborn bull who refused to do anything to help us just a short few days ago, and that just makes me even more confused- why would Mrs. Wilde waste her one call on him?
That doesn't matter, though, the cheetah is talking to the Senator, and I kinda want to be able to hear what's being said 'cause I kinda think that it's gonna be important…
"Yes, sir. I'll let them know, okay? Yes, sir, yes, sir! Okay, I'll let them know." Then he pauses for a second. "What, sir? Oh, okay, yes, sir!"
With that, he hangs the phone up with bony fingers, and then he looks at up with shaking paws and trembling whiskers.
"What? What is it?" I ask, feeling my own paws shake, and I have to remind myself to stay calm and not turn myself into a nervous wreck.
"Th- the Senator wants to be able to speak with you later this afternoon, all of you…"
"Well then he's going to have to come here if he wants that, Officer," I say, feeling my tail twitch nervously behind me.
"And that's exactly what he'll be doing tomorrow morning. For now… I'm sorry… guards, take them back to their cells…"
"What? No!" Judy protests, but Clawhauser just smiles sadly at all of us as the guards lead us back to our cells, and the one that leads me back smiles even more sadly.
"I'm sorry," he says, and I get a chance to get a good look at him, and I see that, to my shock, it's another predator, a wolf this time, not wearing a collar, but I can see that he's cuffed and chained like Clawhauser is, and it's a blow that hits me like a sucker punch to the gut.
"I'll get you out of here," I whisper to him as we reach the cell that he closes and locks me into.
"Thank you," he says, tipping two fingers to his forehead like a salute. "Food'll get here in a little while…"
"You're welcome," I say, starting to feel the stress of the day wear me out. Forget about food, I need to go to sleep. Thankfully, there's a cot right in the cell, so I crash on that, and the good thing about being a fox is that we have long tails that we can use to keep ourselves warm, so I cover myself in that and then wrap myself up in the thin blankets and then let sleep take me under.
The next morning, the sound of a tray being pushed through the flap in the door wakes me up, and I sit up, yawning as my tongue lolls out of my mouth. Bleh…
"So, Senator Bogo came by this morning," the same wolf says, twisting his key in the lock and letting me grab my tray before he comes in and shuts the door behind him. Thankfully, he doesn't lock it. Instead, he just lets it slide closed and then comes to sit on my cot next to me.
"Oh?" I ask. "What'd he say?"
"Well, he said something about community service, but, well, why don't you ask him yourself? Eat up, everyone's already waiting."
"Oh, geez," I mutter, eating whatever the heck this stuff is as quickly as I can, wondering how watery slop like this can even be considered food. "Sorry that I'm keeping everyone waiting…"
"Oh, no worries," the guard says, beginning to eat his own tray. "They can wait another five minutes, I haven't eaten breakfast yet."
"Wait, you actually eat that stuff? Are you just trying to make me feel better? I mean, it's working, but…"
"No, I'm eating it because it's the only food I'll get. You keep forgetting that I'm chained here… I don't leave, and the only reason I'm not collared is because they'd, well… they're not kind, but it could be worse… Anyways," he says, "the Senator's going to be waiting for all of you. Here," he says, pushing himself to his feet, "I'll be here. The door's unlocked, just don't forget about all us here, okay?"
"You have a deal," I say, opening the cell's wrought iron bars and walking out into the lobby again, where I see the Senator standing there waiting for me, and I'm thankful that he doesn't look angry. Judy's there too, and all the parents… uh, oh…
"Well, wwell, well, Mister Hopps," the Senator says, looking at me with a look that feels like it's going to burn right through me. "Why does it not surprise me that all of you are in trouble, hmm? Marian, I think we're even, right?"
"Yes, we are," Mrs. Wilde says. "So how long?"
"I think ten months should do it, what about you?"
"Senator, honestly, I'm thankful, I'll take what I can get, you know what it's like in Zootopia proper…"
"And unfortunately, that's where we have to go... "
"What? Senator, William, please, don't do that to me…! Please!" Mrs. Wilde begs, paws together and ears laid back, and if she's afraid, as a grown fox, then what should I be?
"Marian, that's the deal that I can offer. That's the deal, so I'm sorry, but take it and come back or stay here."
"There has to be another way!"
"There's not, so make up your mind, I need to get back to the office by mid-day."
Taking an enormous breath in and then letting it back out slowly, Mrs. Wilde sighs and pushes herself back up to her paws, her mate looking at her with saddened eyes, and then, as he looks at her, he nods.
"We'll do it," she says, taking his extended hoof and shaking it. "Everyone else too…?"
"Yes, they'll come, Marian, your daughter and her friend and family too, I hear that's what got them into this mess in the first place?"
"It's a long story, William, just get us out of here!" Mr. Wilde interjects, and the Senator nods. "Ten months? All of you? Do we have a deal?"
"Bonnie, can you agree to that?"
"What am I agreeing to?" Mom asks, slapping her nose to get it to stop twitching in fear.
"The one way I'm going to be able to get you all out of here is if I take you on as aides in my office. Servants, technically, but, well… you'll be fine."
Mom takes a deep breath of her own, and then lets it out and nods. "Deal."
"Very well then," one of the guards says, and I see the Senator slip him a few gold coins. "You're free to go." Then, as if it's almost as an afterthought, he stops the Senator. "Wait, if you're going to go, take the dam cheetah and wolf with you too. Bellwether's been begging me to get rid of them for years, but, well…. If you're here, Senator, with your track record, they'll be better off with you.
"Now go on, get out of here," he says, taking a key and freeing the other predators in the building. "They stay with you, otherwise we'll haul them in, you understand that, William?"
"Yes, sir, I do," the Senator says, beckoning with a wave of his hoof towards a large van. "That's my ride. Get in, don't make a sound."
With that, we all pile in, and take our seats on the benches that are built into the back of the van, and then the Senator shuts the door, and off we go.
It's what? Two hundred eleven miles from here to Zootopia proper? I think I remember that from a project I had to do when I was in school, before I managed to get my tail kicked out.
The ride feels like it takes all day, but it can't take more than four hours to get to Senator Bogo's office. The real hassle is getting through security, considering we're just a few blocks down from where we are, a gleaming glass building that stands in rather stark contrast to the soot-stained concrete one we're entering. All the guards are prey mammals, and they all glare at us through the van's tinted windows as the Senator explains what we're doing with him. Thankfully, they let us through, and we're just getting out of the van when an otter comes running up to us, and the guards turn to come after him, but the Senator waves them all off.
"He's fine," he says, and the otter starts talking so rapidly that I don't think even Judy's going to be able to understand him.
"Hold on, sir, slow down," the Senator says, and I can get a good look at him- middle-aged, wearing a sweater with a paisley tie with a perfect Windsor knot. He's holding a picture pretty tightly, and I can see that it's a picture of another otter, dressed in a business suit, hugging two younger otters, probably this one's sons, but what does he need from the Senator?
"Senator Bogo, please!" the otter pleads as we walk into the building. "Just a moment of your time, please sir!"
"What is it?"
"I- It's my wife, Octavia, she's a pred rights attorney…. she- she didn't come home last night… what am I supposed to tell my children? I- I- I can't go to the police, you're my only hope…"
"Well, come in, Mister Otterton, I'll see what I can do for you."