Thirty Mile Hell

by Spleriia Emperor Splerii

During his solo trip to a lake located outside of Zootopia, a stroke of bad luck had stopped Daniel Lewis dead in his tracks 30 miles from safety. When he tried to hike back to civilization, he encountered someone along the way that urged him to stick along and hike through unforgiving terrain together in order to survive the harsh environments around them.

1. Trip Plan

30-Mile Hell, Chapter 1 – Trip Plan

It was a hot summer throughout Zootopia. Rainforest District humid, Tundratown melting and the two districts of Savanna Central and Sahara Square aridly hot. Despite the boiling heat of the sunny weather, life goes on like usual.

In an apartment complex located somewhere in Downtown Zootopia, 21 year old Daniel Lewis was preparing his personal belongings for his anticipated solo trip to a lake located outside of Zootopia. A Splenish citizen of Pawraiquan descent, he was viewed as an ordinary human being living alongside anthropomorphic furries but actually he was somewhat known for his keen senses and resilience of a timber wolf. He was a former enlisted runner of the Splenish-Pawraiquan Militia but after a few years, he retired and moved to Zootopia to began a new life as a part-time customer support employee of a retail company. Despite earning 240 Zootopian Dollars from 6 to 10 PM 7 days a weeks, he was still comfortable with his new living.

As he continued on preparing his possessions, his smartphone rang from within his pocket. Immediately, he took it out and got the call.

'Hello?'

'Heya, Daniel. It's me – Aleixos.'

'Oh, hey there. What's up, Aleixos?'

'Well, I called you just to check you up for the evening. What are you doing right now?'

'Oh, I'm just preparing some stuff for my solo trip to the lake that I'm talking about.'

'Ah, I see.'

'Yeah. I wanted to try my angling over there. You know that I fished before, right?'

Aleixos chuckled.

'Of course you do, Daniel. You told me that you fished a stone fish back at your hometown not long ago.'

'Yeah. That one.'

'Anyway, do you have the time to visit me and enjoy some time in the café before you go to the lake tomorrow?'

'Hmm. Sure thing, Aleixos. I could use a drink right now.'

'Brillant. I'll wait for you then, okay?'

'Alright. I'm heading there now. See ya.'

'Later, Daniel.'

The young male human ended the call. He puts his smartphone back on his pocket and grabbed his wallet and keys before exiting his apartment.

…

An hour later, Daniel finally arrived at Aleixos' Café. After parking his jeep, he entered inside. The café was filled with a lot of people enjoying delicious snacks, drinks and the music playing from the stereo system. On the counter, a male ferret, wearing an apron, was serving a Zootopian lion with a mug of cocoa topped with whipped cream, a wafer, chocolate sprinkles and a marshmallow.

'Here ya go, Sir.'

The ferret raises his head and saw Daniel.

'Oh there you are, Daniel!'

'Hey, Aleixos.'

'Glad you made it here, dude. This place was filled already since 6 PM.'

'I would say that it is.'

Aleixos then clapped his hands together.

'Right then. Have a sit, Daniel and I'll prepare you the café's bestseller.'

'Sounds good.'

The human sat down beside the drinking lion while the ferret prepared his hot drink. First, he mixed powdered cocoa and evaporated milk on a white mug filled with freshly-boiled freshwater. Then, he applied whipped cream, a wafer and some chocolate sprinkles before add a finishing touch by sticking a marshmallow on the end of the wafer and roasting it with a butane lighter. Daniel watched in amazement as Aleixos finished with the bestseller drink.

'There you go, Daniel. This is the bestseller drink that I'm serving.'

The human chuckled.

'Now that's excellent, man! No wonder this is so popular in this place.'

'What could I say? This is my creative living.'

'Heh. Point taken.'

Daniel took the mug and he raises it high.

'Cheers, mate!'

He then took a drink of it. His eyes widened in awed satisfaction.

'Wow! This tastes really good, Aleixos.'

'Told you that you'll like it.'

The café door opened and the bell chimed. Both Daniel and Aleixos turned their heads and they saw ZPD Officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde.

'Good evening, Aleixos.'

'Good evening, Officers. What can I do for you two?'

Judy shows a piece of poster that she's holding.

'We would like to post this here so that people could see it. Do you have a bulletin board in here?'

'Ah, yes. It's on the wall right here. You can post it here.'

'Thanks. This one was just being printed earlier.'

'I see.'

Judy approached the bulletin board while Nick approached to the ferret.

'Aleixos?'

'Yeah?'

'Can I have two of those cocoa drinks, please?'

'Sure thing, Officer Wilde.'

While the ferret prepared the drinks, Daniel watched on as the female rabbit pinned the paper poster at the board. When she's done, he realized that the poster was actually a missing person poster. The poster reads…

…

MISSING PERSON

Name: Krystal Alexia

Age: 19 years old

Gender: Female

Species: Ferret

Last Seen: July 15th, Main highway of Bunnyburrow. Pedaling on a folding bicycle.

IN CASE IF ANYONE SAW HER OR KNOW ANY MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HER WHEREABOUTS, PLEASE CONTACT THE ZOOTOPIA POLICE DEPARTMENT. A $5,000 CASH REWARD WILL BE GUARANTEED.

After seeing the poster, Daniel nearly spit take his drink.

'Whoa, a five thousand cash reward for a missing ferret girl?'

Judy nodded.

'Indeed. She was missing for two days now so her family issued a cash reward to anyone who can find her.'

'I see. I'll try to update you in case if see her or know her whereabouts.'

The rabbit looked at the human confusedly.

'How so?'

'Well, because that's the highway I'm heading to tomorrow for my trip.'

'A trip? To where?'

'To the lake, Maam.'

'Oh, you might be referring to Whiskers Lake. Maybe you have any leads for us.'

Daniel nearly jolted.

'W-What? N-No, it wasn't like that. Just because I mentioned the place that was near to the last whereabout, that doesn't mean the missing person would be there.'

'Oof. Maybe you're right. Sorry about that. This is the latest buzz on the police department that I can't ignore about.'

'I understand. Don't worry, Officer. Like what I said, I'll report in case I found the girl or gather some info about her possible whereabouts on my trip tomorrow if ever.'

'Alright then. Looking for that, Mister?'

'Daniel. Daniel Lewis.'

Both Judy and Daniel handshake with each other. Aleixos finished preparing the drinks that Nick ordered.

'Here's the two drinks, Wilde.'

'Thanks. I'll pay you back when I receive my paycheck tomorrow.'

'Sure thing.'

Nick looked at Judy.

'Hey, Judy. Let's head back to the ZPD and get our last batch of posters to distribute.'

'Alright, Nick.'

Aleixos waved the two ZPD officers goodbye as they left the café. Daniel continued on drinking.

'I wonder if something I said might be true. Seems coincidental but I don't know.'

'Who knows? Coincidental or not, it depends by fate.'

The human simply paused and looked down at his now empty mug.

'Maybe so.'