Second Interlude — Judy (June 21st, 2018 A.D.)
Helpless. Just the thought of the word was enough to make Judy Hopps sick to her stomach. She had spent her entire life fighting tooth and claw against anyone or anything that ever made the mistaking of looking down on her, talking down to her, or otherwise thinking that she couldn't measure up, just because she was a dumb little bunny from out in the sticks. Yes "helpless" is exactly what she, Nick, and all of the other ZPD officers were as they stood together in dumb shock. They were packed into the cramped first-floor conference center of the Marriotter Hotel, about three miles east of the now smoldering ZPD Headquarters, which was far enough to be considered a safe-zone according to SOP, but not so distant that everyone there couldn't still hear the wail of sirens and the roar of fire-engines as they worked to contain the blaze to just the HQ.
There were a dozen of them altogether, the most "essential" personnel that Chief Bogo could gather before evacuating the rest of the staff and officers to the East Downtown Hospital. Miraculously, nobody had been killed, though several team members at the hospital were being treated for burns and lacerations, and poor Clawhauser had been stuck by a piece of debris when he dove to protect one of the civilians that had been working with at the front desk. By the time Nick and Judy arrived at the scene, the evacuation was already well underway, and Judy had to watch as Clawhauser's unconscious and unwieldy body got dragged to safety by Fangmeyer and Delgato, who had gotten pretty beat up themselves. That was when that all-too familiar knot started twisting up in Judy's gut: Her whole world falling apart around her, and the only thing she could do was stand there and watch. Now, here they all were, and nobody had anything useful to say as Chief Bogo muttered in the corner with McHorn, the burly rhino, who had arrived just moments before with word from the Mayor's office. Everyone just murmured to one another in their corners of the room.
Mayor Arborlin was busy scraping together a press conference and working with the emergency services to make sure there was no immediate danger surrounding the area, though soon she would be meeting with Bogo personally to get started on investigating each and every one of the buildings in the three surrounding blocks that had also been evacuated, just in case there were other explosives to deal with. Nobody had said the word "terrorism" yet, but it was on everyone's mind, Judy's included. The word had hardly been a part of Zootopia's lexicon until the business with Bellwether and the Night Howlers from two years back, but it was on the tip of every animal in Zootopia's tongue from then on out. "When would the next act of anti-predator terrorism occur?" barked the pundits on a reliable and regular basis. Or, for the contrarians amongst them, "What about anti-prey terrorism? Should every leaf eater in Zootopia be living in fear?" The fearmongering had finally seemed to be dying down in recent months, or so Judy wanted to believe, but this was just the spark the city needed to go into meltdown again.
This was an attack directed specifically at the ZPD, who had been working triple-time in the past two years to repair their relationship with predator and prey animal alike, and for as much as she hated it, Judy's status as "poster-rabbit" of the police force's public relations had never really went away, even after Bellwether got locked up for good. She was always being hounded by reporters and gossip bloggers whenever an officer stepped out of line with a citizen, or when a notable arrest was made, or simply when she had the gall to go about her life without inciting any more city-shaking riots.
Nick had taken to calling these particularly focused news vultures "trash-o-vores", and while he'd use the term with his usual sardonic wink in private, he had absolutely no patience with them whenever they worked up the nerve to approach Judy on the street. Once, he'd even pulled out "the Ol' Feral Face" (as Nick himself like to call it) when an obstinate badger from the Info Army EweTube Channel had practically shoved his camera down Judy's nose to pester her about the "one year anniversary of Zootopia's Predator Uprising Riots", which is what the nastiest trolls online had taken to calling the wave of hysteria and discrimination that Bellwether incited with her Night Howler ruse. Nick's bug-eyed, foamy-muzzled mug had been plastered all over the internet for a week, and he endured every ounce of the proceeding lunacy with a smile on his face. Judy would be grateful for that for the rest of her life.
"I think the trash-o-vores are going to have a field day with this one…" Judy whispered, quiet enough so that only Nick, who was standing right beside her, could hear. She hated herself just for saying the thought out-loud, for being so petty as to make this awful tragedy about her, which was just the sort of thing a stupid, helpless bunny would do when they became overwhelmed with anxiety and fear. Nick understood the root of than anxiety though, and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, leaning in close so as not to draw attention to the way Judy couldn't stop her foot from pounding nervously in place, or the way her stupid nose kept twitching out of control.
"Listen to me, Carrots," he said (and was Judy at all surprised that she already felt more at ease, just hearing that familiar nickname?), "None of this is on you. You hear me? We have no idea what's going on here, but there's nothing you could have done to prevent it, and you sure as hell didn't cause it. Bogo is going to make sure we get to the bottom of this in no time, you'll see. And if any of those jackwagons from the trash rags try to rope you into this drama, we'll set them straight. Together."
Judy put her hand on his, squeezing it more tightly than she planned. "Okay," she said. "You're right. One step at a time. Thank you, Nick." The fox didn't say anything in response. He just squeezed her hand back.
Bogo and McHorn were no longer talking amongst themselves; each of them simply stood hunched over the long meeting desk that occupied the whole center of the room, their hooves dug deep into the polished maple wood, their brows furrowed in furious concentration. None of the other officers were taking the lead in getting a dialogue started either. So, she did what she always did when the world was conspiring to make her feel small and ineffectual: She stepped out of her station and took back as much control as she could.
"Excuse me," Judy said, stepping forward towards the Chief and perking up her ears for maximum visibility. "Chief Bogo? I can't imagine how much you have to juggle right now, and I know you were right there on the ground with us when HQ went up, but I think I speak for everyone here when I ask you just what exactly the plan is?" Judy braced herself for one of Bogo's patented verbal shakedowns – even now, as much as he'd warmed up to Nick and Judy both, the buffalo was as capable as ever at dressing an entire room down with little more than a hard stare and some carefully aimed insults. He didn't yell, or curse, or even grunt in irritation when Judy spoke up. He simply rubbed his temple with his hoof, sighed, and went on in as matter-of-fact a tone as he could muster.
"I honestly don't know, Hopps. Mayor Arborlin is positively beside herself, as you might imagine – I think she was hoping to get through her two terms without a catastrophe to clean up, but here we are. I'm working with the smaller precincts from around the city to arrange for a clean-sweep through the neighborhood, and the Fire Department's ctually working with us very diligently, for a change. The Mayor will be here any minute to meet with me, but as for the rest of you…" Bogo looked purposefully each of the animals he'd brought back from HQ, acknowledging their presence and thanking them for their service with nothing more than a barely perceptible nod. That was what Judy had come to love about the Chief; his communicative prowess swung both ways, and if he told you that he damn well expected to keep your chin up and do your job, then you did it, no questions asked. "I brought you here because I needed my best with me to deal with this…situation. But I'll be honest, everyone. This is unprecedented. It's a miracle that we got out with our hides intact like we did…"
"Except for Clawhauser." It was Wolfhard's turn to chime in. His fur had been singed, and his ears drooped down on his head. It was the most defeated Judy had ever seen the Timber Wolf look. Looking around, Judy realized that the same could be said for every animal there. Pennington, Delgato, Higgins, Grizzoli – these were the animals that Judy had come to think of as her stalwart allies and friends, officers who were as sturdy as frame of the city itself. That bomb hadn't just shaken the ZPD to its core – its very foundations had been cracked open.
"Except Clawhauser, yes." For the first time in the years she had known him, Judy thought Bogo's composure might actually break. It was an open secret around the whole of the department that Bogo and Clawhauser were closer than most anyone else in the ZPD, and everyone also knew that Clawhauser would never for a second have allowed the Chief to fret over him in the middle of a full-blown crisis. That even Bogo's steely confidence could be brought so low, and was what caused the full reality of the situation to sink in. The ZPD had been attacked. Her friends had been hurt, had very nearly been killed.
Right then, Judy made a promise not just to herself, and not just to the Chief, but to the whole city. The animals of Zootopia had gone through enough on her account, and they deserved to be able to live free of this kind of existential terror. That helpless sensation was beginning to twist and fester inside of her, into something sharper and altogether novel for a rabbit like her. I'm going to find whoever did this, she thought. I'll hunt them down if I have to, myself.
"Clawhauser will be fine," Bogo said, finally. "He doesn't look like it, or act like it, but he's as tough as any of us, and he risked his life to protect a civilian, which is the oath he swore when he joined the ZPD. And if a knock on the head and a couple of scars are the worst any of us will have to show for what happened to today, then I say we got off more than a little lucky. I won't lie to you all and tell you that we have a plan, yet, but we're working overtime to get things together so we can all get our claws out of our behinds and do some damned police work. As soon as the Mayor arrives and we have our next steps in place, we'll be back on track. And that's a promise."
Bogo's speech wasn't enough to completely deflate the tension in the conference room, but Judy could feel every single officer there straighten up and begin to breathe easier. Even Nick, who hadn't taken his hand from Judy's shoulder in all that time, relaxed his grip.
"You see?" Nick said, "It's like I was saying, Carrots. We've got this."
Before Judy could reply, the soft atmosphere of the conference room was broken by a shrill briiing-briing, bring-bring! The room literally shook as everyone, including the largest animals, started and jumped at the sound. They all looked around, puzzled, before the noticed the phone sitting on the back table at the far end of the room. It was an old, wired model, a rotary phone with the numbers you had to wheel around one-at-a-time. It didn't even have an adapter for hoofed animals or larger creatures, and that, along with the thick coat of dust smeared all across its green Bakelite casing, was a sign of how long it had been since anyone had used the thing.
"Is that the Mayor, Chief?" Nick asked, more to break the silence than anything, since the answer was obvious.
"The Mayor would never communicate with me on an unsecured line during times like these, and you could count the number of outside individuals that even know we're here on a single paw." The Chief looked down at his hoofs, snorted, and added "Officer Wilde. Would you please do the honors?"
"No problem, Chief," Nick said. Judy was close enough that she could hear this hitch in his breathing, and the tiny gulp that passed down his throat as he stepped towards the phone. He had been putting on his "Everything is A-Okay" routine this whole time, and Judy had thought it was mostly for her sake, but Nick was just as scared as the rest of them. He had once told her that his motto was "Never let them see that they get to you", and she had since learned how that rule applied to Nick himself, as much as anyone else.
Nick picked up the phone, winking at Judy and the others. He answered, "Hairy Hamster's Pizza —your order fast and fresh in 30 minutes or less, or the cinnamon sticks are on us! Will this be takeout or delivery?" Bogo stepped forward to snatch the phone out of Nick's claws when the fox's eyes narrowed, his tail bristled, and he curtly waved his free hand up at Bogo to halt him. Every eye and ear in the room was on Nick, now.
"Who is this?" he said, dropping his jokester tone. "I hope you understand that — what? Why in the hell would I do that?" A pause. Nick listened, and Judy saw that his lips were twisting up in a way they only did when he was genuinely furious, something she'd only ever seen once before in his time as her partner. Then, Nick held the receiver away from himself, covering up the mouthpiece, and spoke quietly and seriously. "They say that there's a bomb planted in an air duct in the floor just above the conference room, that it'll go off the minute anyone steps in or out of this room, and that they'll blow us up anyway unless we meet their demand." Bogo snarled and slammed his fist on the table. He only had to think for a moment, himself, before answering.
"We need to buy time, then." Bogo was seething. "Did they say what their demands were?"
Nick hesitated, his bright green eyes darting helplessly to Judy. "They, um…they want to talk to Judy, sir." Now everyone's gaze fell directly on Judy, and whatever righteous and burning fury she had mustered a moment ago spilled out of her entirely, leaving her deflated, cold, and sick to her stomach. It was a sensation she was familiar with; she had felt almost the exact same way nearly two years ago, after she botched the press conference about the missing mammals, when she watched Nick turn his back on her and walk out of her life. Helpless.
Nick was here, now, though she had learned to read him very well in the intervening years, and she could tell without him having to say anything exactly what was waiting for her on the other end of that phone line. Two years ago, she tried to save Zootopia, and ended up breaking it in the process. The city's wounds had been mended, or so everyone went out of their way to tell themselves, but though Officer Judy Hopps and her partner Nick Wilde had been hailed as heroes by most, Judy had spent more than one sleepless night wondering just when the other shoe was finally going to drop. When was she finally going to be brought to task for letting everyone and everything she had ever loved down so utterly and completely? As Nick handed her the phone, he whispered, almost pleaded, "Judy, no matter what this bastard says, you—"
"Don't, Nick," Judy said. "It's okay." Then she held the receiver up to her ear. "You wanted to speak to me?"
"Yes, Officer Hopps, I did." The voice on the other end was indistinct, likely due to some sort of machine garbling. If they had their usual resources, or if this call had been made on a cellular line, there would no doubt be some effort to trace this call. The bomber was obviously accounting for that. Without thinking, Judy slipped her free hand into one of her belt's utility pockets, and she immediately found her trusty carrot-shaped microphone pen. Judy clicked the pen open and closed repeatedly as the voice went on: "You don't sound surprised. Were you expecting me?"
Be calm, Judy thought, though her heart was pounding like a jet engine in her chest. Keep that darn foot still. Stop twitching your nose. Even if they can't see you on the other end of the call, everyone else in this room can.
"Egomaniacs with a chip on their shoulder usually like to brag," Judy answered. "You wouldn't be the first "evil mastermind" to go out of their way to explain their plan to me. So what do you want?" The voice chuckled, and Judy would have given anything in that moment to reach through the telephone and sock the owner of that hateful laugh right in the jaw.
"Your reputation for impudence precedes you, Miss Hopps. I would have been disappointed in anything else. I will admit, though, that I am not here to give you my villainous monologue. At least, not yet." Another laugh, and Judy could hear even through the warped transmission that it was a choking kind of laughter, rattling out of its owner's chest in violent spasms. "I merely wanted to make a formal introduction, from one invested party to another. From predator, to prey. One of the great thrills of the hunt is to look into your quarry's eyes as they die, to feel the life slip out of them. Sadly, I cannot guarantee that we will have the opportunity for such a dance, so I opted for the next best thing. If I cannot see the quake and tremble of your tiny little frame, then I can at least hear it, yes?"
"If hunting me is what you're after, then you're off to a pretty lousy start, whoever you are. You hurt my friends, but you didn't even get close to scratching me. From where I stand, it's almost like you want every last officer in the ZPD to come crashing down on your sorry excuse for a head."
"Oh goodness!"The voice's mock alarm was almost more infuriating than its stupid laugh. "You are already living up to my expectations, Miss Hopps, and we've barely begun! And yes, that first bomb was intended for you, but not to kill you. I merely wanted to send along a little message, and I paid you this call to ensure that the message came through as clear as crystal."
"Say whatever you have to say, then!" Judy said, not intending to raise her voice as much as she did. "It doesn't matter. We'll catch you, and we'll bring you to justice, one way or the other. That's how it always goes."
"Of course, Miss Hopps. Of course. I am very much looking forward to it. We all are. Just know this: Jack Savage sends his regards."
Click. A dull tone droned in Judy's ear. The line was dead.
A/N: I made sure not to make the wait as long as last time! As always, I love to hear feedback of all kinds, so let me know what you thought in the comments. Stay safe and stay healthy out there, everybody.
