As much as I want to just charge all the way to Zootopia proper and take down the Mayor and all of the puppet government that've supported her the whole time- the freaking cowards, didn't they even think about trying to take her out of the way? Didn't they even try to fight for their own right, or did they just strap the collars on their own freaking necks and not even think about it?
Gods and Celestials above I hope not, but then again… you get enough into someone's head, you can convince them of anything, even that they're a threat to themselves and to society, that they should 'free themselves' by strapping a little belt with a shock box on it around their necks, like, oh yeah, that'll totally make them free- if it doesn't freaking kill them dead first…
Plan, yeah, we need a plan and we need one as soon as freaking possible, otherwise they're going to come right for us and get us… I know that they're probably already stalking us, coming right after us…
And I'm sure that they already know exactly where we are- they probably have us pinpointed down to the square inch…
Plan, right, yes, we need a plan… well, I know that, as much as the Mayor likes to brag about the fact that she has eyes and ears everywhere, but is she protected, well, that's something that I never really got to test…
In the roughly a month that's passed since the crew I'm dragging with me stumbled into the burrows, there hasn't been a day that's gone by, dark and sunless, lit only by shaky, flickering oil lantern light, that I haven't thought about Judy, what that -pardon my language, no I can't say it- witch with a capital B of a mammal's been doing to her for so long…
"So what're we gonna do, huh, you said you worked on the ZTA, mister?"
"Yes, son, I did," the elder rabbit says, softening. "Otto… you can call me Otto…"
"Well, Otto, can you help us a little bit? I mean, what should we do…. I don't know, I really don't- you said you worked on the ZTA?"
"Yeah, I did… know the darn system in and out like the back of my paw… I was actually a maintenance mam on in the last time this scat went down, you want to know about that?"
"Uh huh, yes please sir…," I say, trying to quell the mix of fear and undue giddyness and excitement that I can feel welling up and surging inside me… I'm scared but I'm so ready to go…
"Kid, I told you that you can call me Otto, seriously, the tough rabbit thing's just for show, don't tell the rest of the warren though…"
"Oh don't worry," I laugh, "I won't, I swear…. So what do you know, sir… and yes, I'm going to call you sir because that's the polite thing to do and I can see that a whole bunch of your family and friends here have actual torches and pitchforks in their paws, ready to kill us please don't kill me I swear we don't mean anything please… I'm just looking for my friend and her parents and my mom please…"
I can hear the murmurs start to ripple through the crowd, should we trust them, they look pathetic, oh for flock's sake they're foxes and you trust them do you want to get eaten? until Otto waves his paws to shut them up.
"You trust me, right?" he asks, and a murmur of assent ripples across the crowd. "Okay, then for freak's sake relax, if they turn on I can take then and you know that…"
"So kid, you're trying to find my granddaughter, is that right?"
"Yes, sir- Otto, we are, please tell us you can help us, sir, we really need it, please," I plead, hating that I sound so dam pathetic.
"What kind of help are you looking for, anyways? To keep you all safe?"
"Yes sir please sir," Mason says. "They've been chasing us for forever, please don't let them get us…, please..."
"Mason, you can relax, they're not going to find us here… and yes, a plan, a plan- okay, do you want to just, well, just catch the Mayor, or do you want to- um-," he says, cutting himself off. "No, never mind, she can stoop that low but I refuse to-"
Bang-
Bang-
Bang-
Scat someone's at the doors!
That's what gets shouted out all over the warren, rabbits, young and old alike scattering for rooms all over the place, vents closing, bolts slamming shut until nothing would ever be able to get in and out- and I'm not sure whether I feel like that's really a good idea or not, but hell, we're gonna find out soon enough…
"Okay, so who's going to get that?" Tyler asks, and even though he's trying to keep up the facade and act tough in front of all of us, I can see his nose almost twitching to the point that he looks like he's going to sneeze.
"I'll get it," Otto says, starting to walk calmly for the door, every single other rabbit shouting out that, no! he can't, he shouldn't! and it gets my ears ringing, holy freaking hell, but he keeps going anyways.
Right before he reaches the door, he turns around and faces all of us. "Look, guys, I'm old enough, I've lived for plenty… you're all armed, you can take whatever could come through that dam door," he says, pointing a quivering finger at it, and I can hear the rasping voice of whoever's on the other side cry out-
"Please don't hurt me, please, I'm dying, please… I don't want to die like this…"
I recognize that voice, it's the voice of that scrawny cheetah that I was locked in the basement with…
"Let him in, Otto, I know that is…," I tell him, and I see him nod, fear filling his face and eyes… almost like he's daring me to be wrong…
Otto does, and the mammal I knew it was faceplants in through the door, blood pooling all around, the smell of metal making the air also smell like vomit at rabbit after rabbit after rabbit retches…
"Out of the way, everyone, I've got this," I shout, dashing through the now-parting crowd. He really doesn't look good, but I can help him… first thing first, stop the blood flow.., there's so much, dear gods and Celestials above…
"Ben, stay calm, I can help-"
"Mayor Bellwether has a bounty out on both of you-," he rasps, and then he passes out…
Scat, this isn't going to be good… but I'm a fox, we make the best of everything that we can…
We're tough, our stomachs may not be, but we make it through, and this isn't going to be any exception…
Ben, you're gonna make it through, I promise…
Hey, sorry for the holdup folks, life's been insane here. Hope all of you're doing well in the face of COVID and all of that!
Hopefully I can get the next chapter out more quickly...
-WP