Zootopia belongs to Disney. Spider-Man belongs to Sony.
"There he is, go get 'im!" she said to Sophia, nudging her into the room. The little girl took off running with her arms forward. Sarah hoped that he wouldn't be too tired to see his Button. They hadn't seen each other for over a week.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaddy!" she said as she ran up to the bed. She climbed up onto it - with a fair amount of difficulty, especially with her blue dress - and hopped onto her father's chest.
"Oh!" he groaned as he began to stir.
She covered his eyes and giggled. "Who is it, Daddy?"
"Hmm... I don't know, I can't see who it is. But would it happen to be my little Button covering my eyes?"
She giggled again. "How d'you know? You bwind!"
"Darling," he cupped his mouth and called out, "I've gone blind again!" He said to Sophia, "Would you ask your mother to come back here and fix me up? And tell her not to forget the wrench this time, hm?" Sarah limped over to the side of the bed, laying her cane on the mattress. She lifted her little girl off of his chest. He groaned and took a deep breath. "Oh, you won't always be able to do that to your Daddy, my Darling. He's getting old."
"Fowwy."
He scratched her cheek right on the spot she loved. She squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her head to expose her cheek as much as possible. "How was your day?" he asked his wife. At the same time he covered Sophia's face playfully, causing her to giggle and push it off.
"Eh, typical." She rolled her eyes. "Overabundance of animals who don't know how the city operates. Or how to make their own stupid coffee. Not that I'm complaining; I don't have to get it for them." She winked at him.
He rolled his eyes. He knew far too well. "Welp, that conversation's over." He grunted as he sat up, causing her to frown. His job was hard enough even when the city was quiet. Now, it was not hard to tell that he was very near the point of collapse. She immediately regretted waking him up, even if Sophia got some time with him.
"No, no, go on back to sleep," she encouraged him when he got himself upright.
"Ah! I've gotten enough sleep. I gotta get back to work."
"You were taking a break now? In the middle of your shift? I'm surprised at you," she said jovially. She set down her squirming daughter, who ran off to play.
"Hmph, I'm the Chief of police, remember? I can take a break whenever I want. I feel better now so I should get back to the precinct."
He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Sarah with her thoughts. She didn't believe it for a second. His puffy eyes, the circles under them, his slow responses... He's worked so hard these past several weeks, constantly obsessing over the culprit of this current crisis. They were able to talk on the phone, but rare were the times that she saw him face-to-face at this point.
She took her cane and made her way toward the kitchen. Sophia was hanging behind Thel, just talking about preschool. He did his best to keep up and say, "No, really!" and "Good! I'm proud of you." Sarah smiled. He never tossed her aside when he had the chance to see her, even when he was barely keeping himself upright. Leaning on the doorsill, she watched him make coffee for himself. He needed to do something for himself for once. He'd already done more than enough for her, their daughter, and the city as long as he'd been Chief.
She smiled. "Thel." The buffalo turned toward her, sipping on his coffee. "Go to bed. Please. I know you're exhausted. And don't try to tell me otherwise because it doesn't take a surgeon to tell me that you're working yourself to death."
"Mm. I can't. I've got work to do." He tried to squeeze past her.
She put her hand against his chest and stopped him. "I don't think so," she said firmly.
He stared at her. It was clear that the hardened buffalo who would take on a ferocious leopard on his own... was no match for his significant other. Especially when she spoke with such finality.
"Sit down," she said. He nodded with a sigh. She watched with great concern as he didn't sit down, but rather landed in the chair. Sophia quickly climbed into his lap and lay across it. He closed his eyes for a moment as he scratched her back. It was then that Sarah realized just how bleary and bloodshot his eyes were. She had seen him this weary only one other time - the first day she'd met him. Officially, that is. Near the end of the Nighthowler Crisis...
It had been just a day after Bellwether had been captured. In the last few weeks, her close friend Litter had disappeared without a trace or any prior warning. What happened to her, she didn't know. Her concern for her friend kept her up at night. She could only hope that she was all right. That day had been a hard one. She had walked to the nearby coffee shop to get some coffee for her and another close friend of hers, Doug Kenten, who was Zootopia's treasurer at the time. On the way back, she had heard a grating noise and realized too late that it was the growl of a feline, who was fast approaching her from behind. He pounced on her just as she turned around, knocking her down onto the sidewalk and spilling the coffee all over her arm and the ground, burning her skin. She whimpered in terror as the monster lowered his face into hers. His yellow irises bore into her wide eyes, the breath from the low rumble emanating from his throat stroking her cheek. She knew this was it for her. Moments later, he rose and began to maul her with his sharp claws and teeth.
Chief Bogo had been driving home from a thirty-some odd hour shift for a nap that would end with him going right back to the station for another several hours. At least he would have had he not run into this situation. The only reason he had heard anything was the fact that he had lowered the windows to let the wind flow through his car. His jaw dropped at the sight of a nude leopard on all fours, biting into and clawing a helpless mammal underneath it. The animal writhed in a futile attempt to escape, her voice alternating between agonized groans and shrieks for help. Blood was beginning to pool around her body.
The cat continually sunk his claws into the woman's leg and abdomen. The beast was aiming its teeth for her neck but her arm was in the way to suffer the punishment instead. The pleas for help from the woman under the frenzied spotted cat drove the Chief to action. He screeched to a sudden stop.
He reached for his radio with an alarmed shout. "LISTEN UP! ANYONE CLOSE BY RAINCORN AND DAMBUILDER, PREDATOR ATTACK! AMBULANCE AND BACKUP, NOW! ANYONE COPY!" he roared into it as he leapt out of the cruiser.
"On the way!" the response came through the radio. The chief threw away his radio and proceeded to sprint up behind the leopard to grab him by the waistband and lift him off of her before hurling him into the empty street with a mighty shout of effort. The leopard landed on his feet and immediately charged the buffalo, who drew his pistol and fired a shot. He missed, and the cat slapped it to the ground and stomped it by chance with his hand. Left only with the option to fight, he fended off the furious creature, growling in boiling wrath for the interruption of its meal. He managed to avoid the worst of the claws and teeth before pushing him backward to reorient himself. The savage beast landed on his feet and faced the chief, who was firmly set between him and his prey. Bogo removed his nightstick and turned to look at the woman, shaking and sobbing haltingly on the cold ground. Despite the deep, bloody gash down the right side of her face, he recognized her as the public relations ambassador whom he'd met at City Hall just weeks ago to discuss the rampant prejudice that predators were receiving at the hands of prey, and what to do about it. Both of them had locked eyes several times during the meeting. He had wanted to speak to her, but he was too afraid to approach her. He'd regretted it, and had felt that his life would just go back to normal. And that was that. But to say that he was surprised to see her tonight, and in this condition, was a vast understatement. He didn't know it at the time, but the woman felt the same way. She knew when he turned toward her - he wasn't going to let her die, no matter what.
She had seen at that moment - she didn't know why she noticed this given the circumstances, but his eyes had shown the same depth of exhaustion that night: bloodshot, barely able to stay open. He then turned and glared at the leopard, standing at the ready. He snorted in apprehension of the inevitable brawl between himself and the animal. The chief was Sarah's only hope. If he abandoned her, she would die. If he lost the fight, she would die. If he faltered even for a moment... never. He wouldn't.
The leopard stalked toward him, snarling, baring his long incisors that dripped red with the blood of his would-be meal behind the buffalo. He slowly hunched down and glared with a determined anger into the chief's eyes, who returned the stare with equal determination.
The fight commenced, with the leopard charging the cape buffalo ferociously again and again. Sarah watched in wide-eyed agony and terror as the older chief battled the leopard, taking several deep bites and lacerations. But he never faltered once for the time it took for the police to arrive.
He just... kept... fighting.
When the police finally arrived, his shirt was torn and splotched red; he bled all over from the deep scratches and bites he'd endured as he fought to keep the leopard from reaching the woman who would become his wife. Moments after the leopard was subdued with tranquilizer darts, the chief stumbled toward the woman, dazed and clutching his shoulder. It was that moment... that moment, when she fell for him. His wounds didn't matter to him. He wasn't afraid to fight for her. His life was hers even before they met at the altar. The moment he saw she was still alive, he fell over and passed out from exhaustion and blood loss. But he'd made it through. He'd saved her life. The two of them were subsequently carried into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
Bogo received a few scars. But Sarah had been mauled to within an inch of her life, and had nearly bled out on the way to the hospital. Her scars were far worse and, unlike the chief's, were much more visible. As God above would have it, though, the two of them were placed into the same hospital room next to each other where they got plenty of time to talk. Both of them had realized right away that they had met each other on several occasions when she was sent to the precinct for various events or meetings.
They learned in the hospital that the leopard, a shy bank teller whose name was Suleman, had received the cure that night but had managed to escape before it could do its work. Hours after the attack, he was back to his former self, but the damage had already been done. The whole event was seared into his brain permanently. Like other victims who had managed to catch their quarry, he feared that he'd managed to kill that sweet woman, but was relieved to some extent to later hear that she was alive and would recover, even though she was left with a permanent limp and numerous jagged scars across the left side of her body and part of her leg. Not to mention nerve damage that left her with limited use of the appendages on that side. But she was glad that she was able to get back to work once she was healed. Her new scars and impeded locomotion made it more of a hassle, but she was willing to live with it.
Well, the rest was history: though they were nearly twenty years apart in age - he was fifty-two and she was thirty-six - they had fallen for each other and got married right after Precinct 1 got its first fox officer, and just two days before he went back to work. Thankfully, he had gotten plenty of rest up to that point and was ready to fight crime once again.
The leopard, however, was nearly driven from the job market due to severe ostracism over the ordeal, and would have gone into poverty had the chief himself not vouched for him and aided in his vindication while Bellwether was in court. The chief's involvement in his restored position at the bank had helped him with his immense shame, not to mention the fact that he was told how instrumental he was in bringing them together. They concluded the whole ordeal by hurling all the blame on the sheep responsible for poisoning him, by means of court testimony. Suleman could be seen in a picture along with Thelonious and Sarah and several officers as a groomsman at their wedding.
She'd never forget that night. She'd cherish it forever, despite the agony both of them had endured. But the one thing that seemed to have come full circle was that he had been just like this, on the verge of collapse. He was still, to this day, fighting nearly to the death. It was what she loved most about him. He simply never gave up, no matter what, and he never lost his resolve or his courage. But that was also what caused her the most worry every day. There were times that she couldn't help but feel guilty that she couldn't take some of his burden off. Being partially crippled by her injuries meant her husband had to work harder on her behalf. So she did what she could to ease that burden on him whenever she could. That was part of the reason she kept her job. Still, when would the time come when her Thel could simply lay down and have a full night's sleep? When would she be able to lie with him and enjoy him like the first few weeks of their marriage? Without any fear of something else taking over their whole lives?...
"Talk to me, Thel," she said after coming out of her contemplation. "And please don't try to lie to me because you and I both know I'll find out what's really going on. I work in the Mayor's office."
He nodded tiredly before wiping his eyes with his thumb and pointer. He knew she was telling him she was aware of the Mayor's visit. His hand dropped and he looked her in the eye. There, in those eyes, was the look of a Chief who was done. He had had enough. He opened his mouth but struggled to begin. Sarah drew closer and stroked his cheek. Breathing in deeply, he said, "This case is driving me crazy. Driving all of us crazy. No matter what, we can't get a real, legitimate lead on anything. I haven't had this much trouble with a case since-"
"The Missing Mammals case," they said simultaneously. She nodded.
He continued, his words punctuated with frustration. "Every one of my detectives has gotten lead after lead... and each... and every one of them is a dead end. Every one of them. Worse, whenever we pick up a trail, somehow we end up losing it the next day. I'm thinking..." he looked at her. "There's something else going on here. There's a reason - a reason bigger than Bellwether - that predators and prey are still at each others' throats like this, why NH-Plus is so popular even among civilians, why it all seems to be concentrated in one district."
"Do you know why that could be?"
He shrugged. "No idea." He sighed and wiped his eyes again. "For all I know, it could just be a bad few years. There's always epidemics popping up like this all over the city. But they're hardly ever this bad. Maybe I'm just paranoid."
Sarah shook her head but didn't say anything, allowing him to finish his tirade.
He looked at her with lucidity and a drop of desperation. "I want to keep you and our Button safe. That's why I... that's why I work so much," he said, deflating. "I'm here right now because it was just getting to be..." he rubbed his face, muffling his breaking voice, "just... too much to carry. City Hall is constantly up my tail to get this case solved. I just... I don't know if I can keep this up much longer."
Sarah squeezed her lips shut. She hadn't expected that. She was aware that his job was more stressful than usual at the moment, but she hadn't realized how much strain it was putting on him. This city was in horrible turmoil. And nobody could find the culprit behind the circulation of NH-Plus around the city. Bellwether was the obvious scapegoat, but as he had pointed out, there was no evidence. Predators were going crazy out of nowhere, just like the original Crisis, except even the bunny and fox duo seemed at a loss. Of course he was stressed to the breaking point.
He sighed and bit back a curse. It was clear, crystal clear to Sarah, that he was overwhelmed beyond reason. She felt shame for not realizing it earlier. He could take more than anyone she'd ever known, but he still had his limit.
"Well," she kissed the side of his head and stood behind him to massage his shoulders, "don't you worry about it right now. Why don't I pour you a glass of wine and you go get some rest. Hm?"
He closed his eyes and shook his head. Always caught between duty to city and necessity to self, duty came first won the battle. "I can't simply..."
She leaned around his shoulder slightly. "Thel. Look at me." His eyes rolled to look at her from the side. "You are not slacking off," she said emphatically. "You are taking care of yourself. For my sake, for your daughter's sake, for your own sake. For the city's sake. You're always fighting. But you're only hurting everyone else and yourself if you don't get any rest."
His eyelids blinked out of sync a couple times before staying shut. "I know," his voice cracked.
"You'll get it done." He looked at her. "You will. But not like this. Go. Get some sleep. I'll hold the fort until you get up, ok?" He nodded and gave a smile that spoke of unspeakable relief. She smiled back at him and pulled him in for a long-overdue kiss. She pulled him closer to whisper in a sultry voice. "Before you go back to work tomorrow... I think you and I need a little... meeting..." She looked at him and winked lustfully before pulling him in for another kiss. She put all the passion she could into it to make up for any and all lost time. They smacked apart. "But not until you're rested up," she said seriously. "Go." She slapped his behind as he stood up. "Get in bed. I'll bring you some wine." Thel set down his daughter and lumbered back toward the bedroom. She went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Pinot Noir. While filling the glass, she felt someone pull on her pants.
"Mommy?" said her daughter.
"Mm-hm?"
"Can I go sweep with Daddy?"
She turned and smiled at the little girl. "Of course you can." She grabbed her cane and the glass, directing Lily to the bedroom, where Thel was just pulling the covers up to his chest. She handed the glass to him and he immediately downed the whole glass in less than three gulps. It was clear he needed it very much. "Button says she wants to be with her Daddy."
"She does?" he said. "Well I think that sounds swell. Get on up here, Darling." Sophia ran to the side of the bed, where he reached down and lifted her up onto the bed with him with a grunt. She lay down next to him, resting her head on his chest and yawning. He poked her side, causing her to squeal.
"Daddy!"
"Sorry," he whispered before kissing her head. "Couldn't help it." He blew a raspberry into the top of her head and she hid her face with a loud giggle.
Thoroughly satisfied, Sarah went back into the kitchen. Picking up a book, she settled into quiet reading. She could finally read in peace for once. An hour passed with nothing happening. And then, what else could happen, but the phone start to ring?
Ugh. This had better not be work. She picked it up and answered the call. "Hello?"
"Chief- wait, who is this?"
"This is his wife. Who's this?"
"Oh! Mrs. Chief, how are you?! Benjamin Clawhauser. I need to talk to him, can you put him on, please?"
Of course. Of course. Of course the city couldn't leave him alone for five minutes. She brought the phone away from her ear and seethed for a moment. She fought to keep herself under control. She took a deep breath and kept her voice even as she answered. "He's asleep. Can it wait?"
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid it can't."
No, I don't think so. This, this was getting ridiculous. But at least this guy sounded genuinely sorry.
She stood up. "Well it's going to have to wait. He's not gotten any sleep, likely for the past week. He needs rest. You all can do without him for a little bit, right?" She'd said it a bit more loudly than she had planned to. She was a native of Zoo York; talking quietly was a learned behavior.
"...Ok. Sorry."
She hung up without hesitation.
She muttered something under her breath as she set the phone down. Then she sat down and massaged her thigh. Her left leg was the one that had suffered the most during the attack - loss of muscle tissue and severe nerve damage, not to mention permanent superficial scarring. The reason she needed a cane. It hurt sometimes, especially when her heart rate increased. She shouldn't have been rude, but enough was enough. They could survive without him for a little while.
She went back to check on her husband.
She snuck the door open for a peek and smiled at the look on his face, which was illuminated by a small light in his hand... ah! He was probably listening to more of those pop songs... for teens. She rolled her eyes at his unusual but cute taste in music. But she couldn't hold back a sigh at the rare sight before her.
Her daughter's body was scrunched up into her dad's side. Her head was perched on his shoulder and under his chin. Thel's arm wrapped around her protectively, yet he actually looked peacefully asleep for once. He was home to enjoy being with his family. For once. Silently, she closed the door before going to the kitchen to sit down and continue reading. Even through the silence, there was still this nagging thought that refused to go away without constant rationalization. She knew she'd done the right thing. But there was still this sense... They can do without him. Right?
Instinctively, Danny covered his waist with his hands and tried not to shiver in both cold and embarrassment. He wished he hadn't taken his clothes off in retrospect. All he had on was his underwear.
The fox... he looked nothing like he did when he'd seen him earlier tonight, the cool, calm, collected type with just a hint of bad boy... at least he thought it was a hint of bad boy. But now, it was almost as if someone had loaded his beer with liquid rage. And hunger. His eyes were bloodshot; his pupils were pinpricks; his clothes were torn profusely, especially his shirt, as if he had ravaged himself trying to get them off. His fur stood on end. His lips were drawn back in a deep growl.
Danny was distracted momentarily by a cold, numbing sensation on the back of his neck. But the noise coming from the vulpine's throat brought him back.
"Uh, Me-Mell- Mill- Merr-Merrill! Merrill, right?" said Danny, still on edge from his extremely vivid nightmare, only to be vigorously woken up by this guy. "Uh... w-what's up? It's not morning already, is it?... Where's Sarah?" Drool dripped from the fox's mouth and onto the sheet. He hopped down from the bed to land in front of him. The guttural sound in his throat intensified.
It was clear what was about to happen. "Oh sh-"
RAAWR!
Danny closed his eyes as he was knocked over. He felt teeth bite his ear hard. "OW!" He groaned as the fox began to scratch at his face. "STOP IT!" he screamed before smacking Merrill's muzzle with a swipe of his arm. The fox yelped in pain. Danny rolled away from the fox. He felt his ear to make sure it was all right. The bite had hurt a lot but there was no blood he could feel. That didn't keep his heart from pounding. He kicked Merrill when he tried to get back onto him. He got up to escape the room. He tried to slam the door to slow him down but his leg got in the way and it simply bounced back open.
"Sarah!" he yelled as he waddled down the hall in his underwear, looking around for her. "Help! Sarah where are you!"
He stumbled to a stop as the other fox (what was her name again?), the wolf, and the bear jumped into the hallway. Same condition: torn clothes and a ravenous look on their faces. He looked from one to the other. They were just as angry as Merrill. What is going on?!
They all came at him but he reflexively performed a front flip over them. He heard them turn around and come back for him. Whether he was still dreaming or not, he didn't know. Both the encounter with the zombie and these beasts... neither felt less real than the other. Maybe he was still asleep and this was just another bad dream.
The animals snapped at him as he ran down the hallway. He made it to a doorway and managed to slam it in time, right into one of them. He cringed at the whimper he heard through the door. The roaring had stopped, but now they were scratching and scraping the wood of the door, frantically trying to get to him.
There were crashing sounds coming from somewhere ahead of him. He turned and tried to discern what it could be. Couldn't be worse than this. "Sarah! Where are you!" he yelled. He really needed her help. He didn't want to be alone with these things. What if there were more of them? He walked forward slowly, fumbling his hands together. He looked around the corner to see the main area of the coffee shop, where he'd been tonight. He turned the corner and walked slowly toward the counter at the front of the shop.
He still felt that numb sensation on the back of his neck. He reached back to... what is that?
He looked at his fingers to see a dark blue residue matting the fur of his fingers. It was sticky. His fingers became numb where the substance coated them. He brought it close and sniffed it. "Yeugh!" he stuck his tongue out in disgust. It smelled really funny. What is this?! He tried wiping it off onto the wall. Ugh! There was the sound of wood breaking behind him. He turned toward the coffee shop area, looking around for his friend. When he didn't find her at the front, he ran back to see if she was hiding somewhere. "Sar-!"
Grrr! The bear swerved around the corner leading into the next hallway and knocked him back forward. Danny landed and turned onto his back. The bear glared at him with that same hateful look. The vixen and the wolf prowled around the corner, right behind him. They stepped toward him slowly.
The bear tried to swipe him again, but Danny blocked it and returned the swing with a shout, connecting with the bear's chest. He fell backward with a pained growl, landing on the other two. The pile of animals turned into a frenzy of yelps and growls as they struggled to get back on their feet.
He went in the other direction, yelling as he ran. Relief flooded him when he recognized the hall where they'd entered from the shop. He blocked out the fact that he was in his underwear and kept moving. Turning the corner, another creature leapt out from behind the counter. Danny yelped and fell backward onto the floor, staring at the creature that looked exactly like...
"Sarah... no..." he moaned with a tight voice at the woman prowling on all fours, facing him with a ferocious snarl, her body barely covered by her ruined clothes. Her pupils were black slits, surrounded by large, brown irises. He wanted to sob at the horrible sight of his friend, at the expression she wore... he'd never seen that look on her face before. Or those eyes. He backed away at her approach.
He was alone with these things, and Sarah was one of them. Her back was arched, her fur standing on end, her lips pulled back into a snarl. He got up on all fours himself and tried to do the same in an attempt to scare her off, but she kept right on prowling toward him. He let out the best hiss he could, which came out as a squeak. All it did was drive her deeper into madness. The ocelot leapt at him, pushing him backward. She landed on the floor and prepared to pounce again while he rolled backward onto his stomach, facing her. Suddenly, he was yanked backward by his tail. He landed on his stomach, falling into a split. He was dragged backward on the floor. His claws scraped against the floor a moment. He stood up and felt the air rush from his lungs as a massive hand smacked him down the hall into the wall at the end. He grunted from the impact, grasping his abdomen. The animals rushed toward him.
He looked up and extended his arm. A web expanded from his wrist and formed a barrier between himself and the bear and ocelot. They proceeded to wrestle with the web, testing its strength, but it held. Just as Danny breathed a sigh of relief, someone jumped on his back and bit his neck. Throwing off the fox, whom he had forgotten all about, he turned to run down the hall and turn the corner.
He cursed when he almost slipped on a carpet. Looking up, he realized there was another door. He opened it and ran through.
"Oof! Agh! Oh! Ow! Unh!" he groaned as he bounced down the stairs before crashing into the floor at the bottom onto his head. His butt sat high in the air. He looked between his legs into the place where he'd ended up.
"GRAGHAGH!" he heard the crazed snarl coming down the hallway, followed by a cacophony of various roars and growls. Quickly, he reached up and webbed the door to pull it shut. He got up and jumped up the full flight of stairs in one bound to the door to turn the bolt and lock it. He backed away slowly before slipping on a stair and bouncing down the whole way again. He shook his head when he reached the bottom.
The growling above him was deafening. It cut into his ear drums like a scalpel. He couldn't help but imagine dozens of claws cutting into him. Why were they trying to hurt him? Why was Sarah trying to hurt him? Were they mad at him? Did he do something wrong? He grabbed his head and tried to keep himself from losing it. He looked around the room to see where he'd ended up. Though his vision allowed him to see in great detail, the room was dark. Very dark. He suddenly felt like he was back in that room, the one from his dream. He felt that horrible thing's presence. He looked around for the demonic revenant. It was constantly at the corner of his eye but he didn't see it. He turned in a circle. But it was nowhere to be found. He backed into a corner and sat down. The cold wood of the walls joining at the corner caused him to arch his back briefly. He drew his knees up.
Cold, exposed, alone. So alone. If he just had some pants...
There was the sound of wood cracking at the top of the stairs. The barrier was broken. Less than a second later, the sound of scratching and breaking wood echoed throughout the dark room. Sarah, please don't do this to me, he thought to himself, wishing she could hear him. He cried quietly and drew his knees up closer. There were pounds on wood and roars coming down from upstairs. The house seemed to shake from the noise. He looked up and hoped the floor wouldn't cave in.
His foot knocked something across the floor as he shifted his position. He looked toward it. Oh! A cell phone! He scrambled over to it and tried to... how do you work this thing?! He pushed a button on the side and the brightness of the screen nearly blinded him. Wiping his eye to clear the visual fog and to try to keep himself alert (he was very tired), he was able to discern the picture of the vixen smiling and giving the camera a... kind of gesture with her hand. Like, holding up a finger to the camera... He'd seen it before but didn't know what it meant. The time was displayed on the picture in big, bold letters: 10:58. Suddenly, the picture disappeared.
Wait, what? He pushed the button again and the picture came back up. How did this thing work? Grr, if Boss didn't prohibit the younger enforcers from having phones... maybe then he'd be of better use! He tried pushing the screen, punching all the buttons, shaking the phone, talking to it, and swiping the screen, which brought up the camera. Agh! He pressed that side button several times, which caused the picture to disappear and the phone to vibrate. Wait, did he break it? No, no he didn't! Emergency! Ha! Ecstatic, he swiped the digital button to the side - he at least knew that much - and put the phone to his ear.
"911, what's your emergency?"
His arm dropped. This called the cops?! Aw, come on! Why the stupid police?!
"911, what's your emergency?" Danny heard the woman repeat faintly at the end of his drooping arm.
He considered hanging up. But what other option did he have? He'd much rather see them than face those creatures upstairs.
He put it back up to his ear. "I need help! Help me!" he practically shouted.
"All right, all right, I hear you, Sweetie," said the woman on the line. "Are you in danger?"
"Yes!"
"What's going on?"
He spoke with a shiver. "I'm stuck in a basement and these animals upstairs just tried to... eat me or something! One of them's my friend. I don't know what's going on."
"Ok, Sweetheart, hang tight. If you can tell me where you are, I'll send the police to you, ok? Where are you at?"
"Looks like somebody was having a little too much fun with their toys," said Ellie as she labeled the evidence bag containing two interesting objects that appeared to be syringes with the pertinent information. She pocketed her pen and set the bag in a pouch on her belt. "Forensics will wanna see this." She patted the pouch as she passed her partner.
"Clawhauser and Futsbauer, come in, over."
Ellie grabbed the radio. "Yeah, what?"
"I got a call from a kid over by Rolling Plaza. He's stuck in the basement of this place called Dean's Southern Brew. He's trapped there by a group of NH-plussers. He needs help right away. Over."
Ellie's face brightened suddenly at the news. "Ha! Finally, something fun for once!" she said somewhat sarcastically - this was a regular thing.
"Yeah, we'll check it out, Gaines, over."
"Thanks. Over and out," said Gaines.
Ellie set the bag in the compartment on the dashboard and Ben turned the car on quickly and put it in gear with a smile. "NH-Plus. This'll be a cinch."
"For you!" said Ben. "You should've seen how unprepared we were for the Missing Mammals Case."
"Mm... I think it would've been a great learning experience."
He ignored her comment. "Flip the siren on, will ya."
I'm aware that Chief Bogo's wife and Danny's friend both have the same name. That's (relatively) intentional. Not every character has to have a unique name; where I go to church you could practically host a scavenger hunt for all the people who share my name, there's so many.
