It was seven in the morning when Judy Hopps and her vulpine charge made it to Savanna Central. It was civil twilight, less than an hour away from full daylight, which meant it wouldn't be much longer before the streets became too busy to pass through unseen. She had to get Nick onto the gondolas before then.
"Hold up." She heard him before he felt his large paw on her shoulder. It kept surprising her that he always managed to touch her without his claws pricking her skin. "I've got an idea."
She turned round to see him looking up at a rusted green signpost, in particular the sign displaying 'Banyan Street.' "I think I know a way to get the rest of the way to the station without being seen."
"How?" Judy asked. She was familiar with that street, but it was off course from their planned route. She couldn't think of how it would be of any help to their journey.
"You'll see. It's a couple blocks from here, so you'd better keep u-" Judy was off before he could finish his sentence.
She crossed the road, turned a corner into an alley, "Wait!" Ignored Nick's shout, passed through a gap in a wooden fence and stepped out into a street that had seen better days. Some of the pavement was fractured like glass, overgrown weeds and grass protruding from the cracks. Ivy covered almost the entire wall of an abandoned factory building. Judy turned around as she walked, wary of potential unsavory characters lurking in the shadows, the knapsack carrying her vest, belt and foot covers tugging at her shoulders. It had been Honey's idea to temporarily discard the identifiable aspects of her uniform until she was closer to the Precinct, just in case there were still gangsters or TUSK officers lurking about. Judy had never imagined she'd been hiding from her own coworkers, but had accepted the suggestion without complaint. Even now the memory of those razorbacks aiming at her skull without hesitation or remorse made her feel a sense of shock.
Nick reached the street twenty seconds before she did, glaring at her as he panted, paws on his knees.
"And you were worried about me keeping up?" Judy asked.
Nick's collar beeped yellow as his glare deepened for a moment. It softened when he saw something behind her and straightened. He strode past Judy and approached the dirty and turquoise entrance to what the sign indicated what the Banyan Street Station, the rusty shutters sealed with a padlock and chains. "We can pass through here."
"Are you nuts?" Judy asked the instant she realized what the fox was planning. "The tunnels will still be in use. It's too dangerous!"
"I'm a pencil-neck. When I put myself to the wall the trains don't even graze me. Besides, they've shut down the transit system, remember."
"When? Don't?" Judy hissed the words. "You mean you've done this before?"
Nick smirked and reached for the shutters, leaving Judy to wish she had her lawbook right now, so she could check if that was even legal and then throw it at his head. The gaps in the shutters were too small for even her to squeeze through, but when Nick pulled he widened a gap just big enough for a male fox. He was through before she could stop him. "Get back here! I don't care if you've done this before, it's not safe! You could get hit! Electrocuted! What if you trip on the tracks?!"
"My face is all over the city, Carrots." Nick said. "I'm not going to be any safer sticking to the streets, am I? Are you coming or not?"
Judy gripped the bars of the shutter, staring at the darkened stairway behind Nick. This was so wrong. She had no idea how many more laws she'd be breaking just by stepping through that gap. She was already deep in it for not bringing Nick in when she had the chance. Then there was the danger. A month before she moved to Zootopia someone had electrocuted themselves on the rails and a picture had been leaked on Furbook. She and two siblings had had the misfortune of seeing that picture. Nick stared at her through the bars in a way that suggested he was studying her. Something that may have been sympathy flickered in his eyes, and he spoke with surprising softness. "Carrots, I know you don't really trust me. Part of me wishes I'd given you more reason to. But there's a ledge along the tunnel that's more than wide enough for you and me the walk on. It's relatively safe if you do what I tell you." He held a paw out through the gap. "The streets aren't safe anymore. Trust me on that, at least."
Judy breathed deeply through her twitching nose, and then she slowly accepted the paw, her fingers momentarily stiffening when they touched the rough paws on his fingertips. He guided her through, pushing carefully on her knapsack when it snagged on the rusted metal. "I have a quick question- when did you last get your tetanus shot?"
Judy saw his smile and rolled her eyes. "Ha, ha. Funny."
A short descent down the stairs later, Judy saw the tunnel and the ledge Nick had told her about, and felt just a little of her unease fade away. It was indeed wide enough for them to safely walk along without the train so much as grazing them. Nick stepped on first, followed by the bunny after a sage reminder to stick to the wall. Small, sickly yellow lights illuminated the way like dots on a map.
Judy heard the howling sound of wind seconds before it hit her like a rhino's gloved fist, her stomach flipping as she was knocked off her feet. Rough paw pads pressed into her skin when Nick grabbed her, pressing her to his body as the animalistic air tore at his clothes. The wind passed, its howl replacing by the incoming mechanical grow of an imminent train. Nick grabbed an insulated wall cable, keeping his other arm around Judy, and twenty seconds later the train was upon them. Judy screwed her eyes shut, unconsciously bunching her fists into the fox's shirt as the metal behemoth passed centimeters by their small bodies, the tremendous sound torture to her sensitive ears. The train disappeared as quickly as it arrived, and Judy opened her eyes when she could no longer feel its presence.
Nick was looking down at her, his face lightened by the yellow light right above them, his worried green eyes meeting hers. That concern seemed to soften his entire face, a far cry from the bitter anger he'd shown her the first few times they'd spoken. She could hear his heartbeat, quickened from the close call. This close to him she could smell his masculine musk. "You okay, Carrots?" He asked.
A week ago Judy would have asked him to let go of her immediately. Instead she asked, "What was that?" while she slowly and deeply breathed in his scent, blocking out the more repulsive smells of the tunnel.
"Finnick calls it the FPE. Fucking Piston Effect." Nick said after a long pause. "He added the F part because he got blown over every time he used the subway. That was before he got that van, obviously. I'm sorry, Carrots, I didn't think they would reopen the lines so soon."
"It's okay." Judy said, the corners of her mouth trying to twitch upwards in response to the humorous explanation. She looked down at the paws clutching Nick's shirt and let go, making him let go of her in turn. "They must've resumed services on the lines that don't go by the bombing site. You know, you haven't actually said where we're going yet."
Nick blew sharply and pointed down the tunnel. "We're heading for Citrus Avenue, about four blocks from Precinct One. You get out there, get the disk, then meet me at the bunker."
"What about you?"
"I still have a ways to go, but like I said, I have done this before." Nick looked at his watch. "Only two more hours until the press conference starts. We'd better keep moving."
Judy endured two more trains, each time holding tightly onto Nick to keep from being blown over, before they saw the distant, brighter white lights of the Citrus Avenue platform. Judy remained behind Nick as they walked, her eyes on the back of his head. Not long ago her eyes had been staring at that exact same spot while the rest of her was chasing him through the little streets of Little Rodentia, convinced that bringing him down would be the answer to all her problems. Now the thought of arresting him only occasionally crossed her mind, and even then it was to foil Radames' plans for the fox and put him under Captain Bogo's protection. Every time the undeniable truth of the Red Queen's words spewing from that phone would push down those thoughts.
TUSK tried to kill them. They'd fired a gun at her head. Their commander had slit her captain's throat. They wanted to hide the truth, so they tried to kill them. It wasn't worth the risk. The only way to protect them, Nick, Bogo, her parents and everyone else was to return to Precinct One alone.
They reached the platform, which mercifully was empty. "I guess this is me." Judy said reluctantly. Nick nodded. In the improved lighting his clothes were visibly stained from their trek in the tunnel. It would likely be even worse when she saw him again. "You still got your radio?"
"Yeah, you?"
Judy held up the device she'd borrowed from the Tundratown hideout. "Ten-Four."
Nick looked at her with that same concern he'd shown in the tunnel. "You sure about this?"
"Savage's contact confirmed that there's almost zero TUSK activity at Precinct One at the moment. I'll go in, face the music, get the disk and get out. Just like we planned."
Nick didn't look all that convinced, but nodded and started on his way to the other end of the platform.
Judy stopped by the restroom to clean her clothes as best as she could before returning to the surface. When her eyes had adjusted to the daylight she realized how quiet the street was and checked her watch. Twenty minutes left until Mayor Swinton's press conference outside the ZNN building. Everyone must be either inside watching their screens or heading to ZNN itself, her parents included. Except she could faintly recall that during the drive to the hideout her dad had kept complaining about the quality of their hotel room, which didn't even have a working television. Judy found a nearby signpost and saw that her path to City Hall, and by extension Precinct One, would take her almost directly past ZNN.
As she walked, she started to hear a commotion up ahead. Not violent, just the low buzz of many mammals talking at once. If Stu Hopps had been right about the hotel tv being broken, then he and Bonnie were certainly among those mammals. Judy felt guilty about avoiding them, but Radames had gotten them involved enough already.
The volume of the crowd had been the first clue of just how many mammals had come to the conference, but when she reached the street where the ZNN building was located she was stunned. There had to be hundreds of them, mammals of all kinds, all gathered to hear directly from Madam Mayor just how bad the situation was. Across the street from the building was a statue of Bartholomew Vue, the ox who founded the ZNN. She hopped onto the tall base to get a better look at the crowd.
The general tone of the illegible chatter indicated frustration and impatience, and a group of collared predators standing slightly away from the crowd were staring at the empty podium behind the line of officers and reporters with silent resentment. Judy didn't like the looks of this. She started searching the crowd for her parents. Just as Honey had predicted, there was a significant police presence here to stop any trouble before it started, but all the same she wanted her parents out of there. She reached for her phone, only to remember it being ruined by the fall into the river.
The reporters started shouting off questions when Mayor Swinton emerged from the ZNN building, followed by Commissioner Elba, Mr. Pottermass, Mr. Llamadeus and an elk that was presumably an assistant of sorts to the llama. Even from this distance, Judy could make out the red glint of her ruby brooch. The pig stepped onto the podium and behind the shrub of microphones, gesturing for the reporters to settle down. The crowd behind the reporters quieted down, but the tension was undeniable. Judy pulled her binoculars from the knapsack and kept looking for her mom and dad. She guess Swinton had brought Llamadeus onto the stage as a show of unity, but she had no idea how the pig convinced the ZBI to let her take one of the collared hostages. The amount of influence she seemed to have bordered on the ridiculous.
"Ladies and gentlemammals," She began, audible both through the microphone and Judy's rabbit ears. For the first time since meeting her Judy saw she wasn't smiling. Either it was because a smile would not be appropriate or because she had noticed the crowd's unrest. Likely both. In any case she began her introduction, but Judy was too worried about the crowd and her parents to listen. If she couldn't see them from here, they were likely at the front where they could better see the podium in spite of their small size. She dropped down from the statue and began to make her way around the edge of the crowd.
"You, ma'am." Judy heard Swinton say.
"What can you tell us about the incident at the Palm Hotel?" A reporter asked. Judy couldn't see which one. "Is it true that Peter Bisoniing instigated that incident after turning savage?"
Horrified murmurs rippled through the crowd, even from those that hadn't seen the news the night before.
"Yes, it is true." Swinton admitted, likely because she had no way of covering it up.
"How?" The same reporter pressed. "Was the cause biological or was it a result of wearing one of the collars?"
"We have yet to identify what caused his outburst." Swinton said calmly. "All we know is that Bisoniing and several other mammals reacted violently to the ZBI's efforts to confine them to the hotel, which I must stress was for their own safety."
"Why haven't the collars been removed already?" A different voice asked. By then Judy had caught sight of the podium. Swinton's attending was on the reporters, as was nearly everyone else on the podium. Elba, however, was scanning the crowd, his eyes stopping every now and then on the group of predators that had inched closer to the front of the crowd.
"Several attempts have been made to remove the collars." Swinton explained. "The scanners failed to work, but the real issue is the explosive device discovered in several of the collars. They will very likely blow if any attempt if made to remove the collars."
There were gasps, murmurs, and accusations of incompetence in response to this. "Are predators responsible for this?" Another reporter asked.
"Considering the context of the attack, it is very likely." Swinton said. The aura coming from the predators went from resentful to hostile in an instant. Judy felt terror and relief when she finally saw her parents, arms intertwined as they anxiously watched the mayor speak. She had to step over a group of shrews, apologizing profusely all the while, to get to them.
"Mom, dad!" She whispered, startling them before they recognized her.
"Judy!" Stu exclaimed with a paw over his heart. "Sweetheart, what are you doing here?"
"Getting you and mom out of here!" Judy grabbed his paw.
Stu started to speak, but was cut off by one of the reporters. "Have the terrorists made any demands?"
"They have not made any demands yet, but no matter what they want, I assure you we do not negotiate with terrorists." Swinton said. "Are there any other-"
"BULLSHIT!"
The shout made the mammals on the podium sharply turn their heads in time to see Dawn Bellwether burst through the doors to the building, the collar around her neck a blazing yellow. Two officers ran out behind her, stopping short when they saw hundreds of eyes upon them.
Bellwether pointed a shaking hoof at Swinton. "You're a filthy liar, Swinton! The terrorists did make demands! Last night, just before everything at the hotel went to hell! Tell them what they want!"
Swinton didn't smile but her face was as cool as a pretty pond hiding parasites. She gave Elba a look, and he in turn raised an arm to stop the two officers from seizing the ewe. "That's a heavy allegation, Bellwether. Why don't you go back inside and clear your head?"
"Clear my head?" Bellwether echoed incredulously. "Why don't you clear that smug look off your face and tell the truth?"
"What truth? In case you haven't noticed we're in the middle of a very important press conference. I find that a more, if you'll pardon the pun, pressing matter than standing here and letting you spit groundless accusations at me."
Bellwether laughed, her collar beeping threateningly, but the warning went ignored. "You think everything that pops into your head is pure gold! But most of it is shit, just like the shit your father and grandfather came up with! No wonder Roarcadia went to hell!"
Swinton crossed her arms, disregarding the agitated noises of the crowd. Elba paid more attention, looking as worried as Judy was. "Are you done?"
"Not by a long shot, you porky bitch!" Bellwether shouted and stepped closer to the mayor.
Elba stepped between them. "That's enough, Miss Bellwether. Go back inside before you set your collar off."
"You just can't get past Carlton, can you?" Swinton asked.
"Let me ask a question; has the TUSK Commander you appointed been apprehended yet?"
"Not yet." Swinton answered evenly. By then the reporters had stopping firing questions to record the confrontation in their notepads. Judy herself mentally noted that the mayor had not seemed surprised by her rival's interruption.
"You wanted him to become Chief of Precinct One, but he couldn't even murder someone right!" Bellwether sneered and advanced another step. "You're not as smart as you think you are, so why don't you wise up and tell these people the truth!"
Swinton slowly blinked. "I understand your resentment, but it's not my fault Carlton got torn to pieces."
Every tuft of wool on Bellwether's body seemed to bristle. Her collar flashed red. Judy gasped and started toward the podium, causing Llamadeus to spot her. "You can't keep shirking responsibility forever, so shove your ego up your butt, tell us what the terrorists want, AND STOP TRYING TO CHANGE THE FLUFFING SUBJECT!"
She barely got to finish her sentence before her collar turned blue.
Bellwether cried out and grabbed her neck before she started to convulse. Elba was the first to act, pulling out his dart gun and putting her down before Llamadeus had fully fled the podium. "Call an ambulance and get her out of here!" He barked at the two officers, and they moved to guard the unconscious ewe as one of them talked into his radio.
"Good golly." Stu breathed, arms tight around his shaken wife. Judy turned away from the podium and started to usher them away from the crowd.
A piece of brick flew from the direction of the predator group, striking Pottermass below the ear. Elba was between Swinton and the crowd in an instant, ordering his officers to get the mayor and her allies back inside the ZNN building. Other officers advanced on the group of predators, searching for the attacker, while the crowd started pushing and cursing in response to the officers trying to make them get out the way. Judy grabbed her parents so she wouldn't lose them in the forest of legs.
"Mayor Swinton, please wait!" The reporters kicked off with a barrage of questions, the same question in numerous variations: "Was Miss Bellwether right about the terrorists' demands having already been made?"
"That is utter and complete garbage!" Pottermass shouted, clutching his bleeding head as an officer dragged him toward the building. Llamadeus was the last to begin withdrawing, never taking his eyes off Judy.
The sight of the retreating leaders drew the crowd out of their quiet shock, and they started toward the line of officers. "Hey, you can't just leave!" Someone shouted.
"What about my wife?" Shouted someone else.
"Why are they doing this?" Shouted another.
Others demanded answers and others more raged at the predators that had joined the fray. Judy realized what was imminent and started shoving at her parents. "We shouldn't have come here." Bonnie's whimper was almost lost to everything else that was happening.
A second, larger piece of brick smashed into the dais, and all hell broke loose. "Who's the savages now, assholes?!" Judy heard someone roar as more rocks, bottles, garbage and other projectiles started flying overhead like birds, making the crowd scream and scatter. "Tell us the truth, bitch!" Other predators shouted "You bastards deserve this!" and "Those grass-chewers had it coming!" and "For the Red Queen!" and "Koobus Lupine fucking rocks!"
Some prey ran for their lives, but others grabbed whatever they could throw and started retaliating. Other mammals surged against the line of officers, straining to get close enough for their rocks and trash and reach Swinton and her fellows before they could reach the safety of the ZNN building. Not just predator, but prey were eager to make Swinton understand their feelings in their own violent way. Some predators broke through the line and charged at the tycoons, meeting resistance from other officers that managed to intercept them. Most of them. Judy could do nothing but watch as a lion barreled into Elba, knocking him from the podium and out of sight. Hundreds of voices screamed profanities, taunts and demands for answers as the other mammals at the podium disappeared inside ZNN and a crew of officers immediately blocked the entrance.
Judy rammed furiously at her parents. "Go, go, go!" Stu grabbed Bonnie and pulled out his fox taser, letting their daughter lead the way through the chaos. The older doe tripped over a rock on the way, which was quickly plucked by a bull and thrown toward the predators. A weasel came at them with a flick knife, but only managed to thrust once before Judy lashed out, knocking him out with a wild right hook. "We have to get to the precinct!" She yelled, shaking the pain from her paw before ripping off her knapsack and pulling out her dart gun. Circumstances and blind rage on the attackers' part forced her to dart two prey and a predator as she shepherded her family down the street. Bonnie shrieked at the sudden crash of a bottle exploding on the tarmac beside them, and Judy felt shards cut her on her and side of her calf. Someone grabbed the strap of Stu's overalls, but he jabbed him with the taser and kept going. Sirens squealed close by, signaling the arrival of the riot police.
Judy didn't see who threw the Molotov Cocktail, only heard smashing glass, the roar of the ensuing inferno, and her parents scream in terror. Heat seared her from behind, and she spun round to see a literal puddle of fire. Where were her parents? She saw no writhing shapes in the flames. Mammals running and brawling left and right forced her away from the fire, drawing her closer to panic. Eventually self-preservation forced her to turn and run.
The next thing Judy knew the bedlam was behind her. She had reached the bottom of a stairway leading up to a historical bridge overlooking the street. She looked around, hoping in vain to see her mom and dad, before clambering up the old steps. She ran across the bridge, hearing the battle intensify as the riot police closed in, running down the stairs at the other end of the bridge and finding herself in an empty, narrow road behind a line of buildings.
Her radio crackled. "Nick! Nick, come in, over!"
Judy recognized the voice. "Miss Ryder!"
"That you, carrot cake? Please tell me you're not anywhere near the ZNN building." Judy stayed silent. "Aw shit, where's Nick?!"
"Right here!" Judy's heart leapt when she heard Nick's voice as well. "What the hell is happening? It sounds like a riot over there!"
"That's exactly what it sounds like! The conference didn't go the way the crowd wanted and everything went straight to shit! Nick, I want you in the bunker now!"
"Hold up, Honey, where's Carrots?"
"Never mind Carrots!" Judy shouted into the radio. "What about my parents?"
"Parents?"
"My mom and dad were at the conference! I have to go back and find them!"
"Hold your tractors, bumpkin, that's suicide!" Honey yelled. "Give me a few minutes, I'll find out what happened to them."
The line fell silent for a few seconds before Nick spoke. "Where are you right now?"
Judy sniffled and sat down on the curb, nursing her wounded leg as the adrenaline began to wear off. "I don't know. In this back street about a block from ZNN. That badger's really going to find them, right?"
"She knows how much losing parents sucks, even as an adult. It's what losing your own parents as a kid will do to you."
"That's awful."
"You okay, Carrots? Sounds like you're hurt."
"I'm fine." Her leg betrayed her by knocking the edge of the curb and drawing a groan of pain.
"That agonized moan says otherwise. You can still walk, right?"
Judy tested her leg by standing up and taking a few steps. "Yes."
"Okay. I guess you don't need me to come get you."
Before Judy could respond to that Honey cut in. "You can ease up, bunny. A jam cam caught two bunnies matching your old folks' description getting arrested for tasing a riot cop. Probably not the news you wanted but at least they're safe."
Judy sobbed into her arm. "Thank you… I don't remember giving you descriptions."
"I dug up some info on you when you started stalking Nicky here. Just a little legal investigating to make sure you weren't working for the League of Alien Sheep Farmageddon."
"Legal, that's good." Judy said, nodding. "Wait, Farma-what?"
