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.

4. Moving Out

30 Mile Hell, Chapter 4 – Moving Out

By daybreak, the thunderstorm started to die down as the weather gradually improved. Elsewhere in Downtown Zootopia, the streets were still flooded up to near-knee level and some of the vehicles in the city were having a hard time passing through. So far, nothing serious was going on at the moment.

At the ZPD Headquarters, every officer were getting their hands full. Some were keeping the peace and public order in the city areas within the flooded areas while others volunteered to help the citizens that were needing assistance at the affected parts of the city. In spite of the untimely diversion, there were a handful of individuals still determine to keep the missing person search ongoing.

Judy was cleaning her paws in the locker room. She just returned back from Bunnyburrow after checking up her family's safety amidst the sudden thunderstorm the other day. Her residence was also a catch basin area but the flooding were not bit of a problem for the female rabbit. As she continued on wiping her feet with a sanitary wipe, Nick appeared.

'Hey there, Carrots.'

'Hey, Nick. How's the situation outside?'

'A bit stressful I would say. Traffic was so bad because of the flooded streets and Bogo ordered half of the police force to assist in clearing and diverting the vehicular jams.'

'I see.'

The red fox sat down on the locker bench and stretched his legs out.

'What about you? How's your family right now? I heard from Clawhauser that your parents called you for a family emergency.'

'Oh, they're all okay alright but some of the people there were evacuated from parts of Bunnyburrow that were prone to flooding.'

'Wait. You saying Bunnyburrow is also a catch basin too?'

'Yeah but not all of them. A lot of people lived in the affected areas mentioned though.'

'Ah. Okay then.'

Judy sighed and she disposed the sanitary wipe that she used to wipe on her paws.

'I'm still relieved that Bogo still retained some of us to keep the missing person search.'

Nick perked and looked at her.

'Really? He did?'

'Yeah. The family of the missing ferret urged to him in person earlier. I actually saw them discussing at his very office.'

'Hmm. Sounds like that the missing family is getting more desperate.'

'I know. That really pains me. In fact, we still haven't got any leads about her.'

Nick sighed as he took something from his pocket and shows it to Judy.

'Want some candy, Judy?'

'Sure thing. Thanks.'

The rabbit took one from Nick's hand and she opened from its wrapper before popping it on her mouth. The red fox did the same and he popped a candy on his own.

'Mmh. Tasty.'

'They're grape-flavored by the way.'

'Heck, I thought you like blueberries.'

'Nah, I'll just pass on them and try grapes instead.'

At that moment, Chimpan appeared in and greeted the duo.

'Heya, guys.'

'Hey there.'

'Oh, it's you. What's up?'

Chimpan sighed as he leaned against a row of lockers.

'Just feeling winded for now. I can't believe Downtown Zootopia can be flooded much like Manhattan in bad weather.'

'I feel ya, buddy.'

'Me too. Floodwater was close to our knees in some affected places.'

'Exactly. Hope the cases of Weil's disease and dengue fever won't rise sooner or later in case the flooded areas didn't recede. The last thing I want to hear is the rise of such cases in lieu of those with the Coronavirus.'

'I agree with that. Wait, where's Spleriia and Michelle?'

'Oh, Spleriia is mopping the floor near the entrance while Michelle is having her breakfast at the cafeteria.'

Nick chuckled.

'Spleriia's mopping the floor, huh?'

Chimpan rubbed his nape.

'Well, the cleaner's not here yet so he done it himself instead.'

'Heh. Talk about janitorial works.'

Judy stood up from the locker bench.

'Okay, I'm going to join Michelle at the cafeteria, you guys.'

'Alright then.'

'See ya later, Carrots.'

Judy left the locker room. Nick then looked at Chimpan.

'So, what now?'

The primate shrugged his shoulders.

'I dunno. I don't have any other plans today.'

'I see.'

Chimpan's tail straightened.

'Oh, wait. I forgot to tell Judy about something. I should have told this already to her.'

Nick got curious.

'What is it?'

'Well, remember the phone call that Spleriia responded during our debriefing yesterday?'

'What about it?'

'He said that his closest friend Acheron Fokkusu will be heading to Zootopia in a few days along with his boyfriend Kaliber.'

'Wait. You already told me that, dude.'

'I know but you haven't know where they're heading to once they arrived here in Zootopia soon.'

The red fox coiled his arms over his chest.

'Well then. Where are they going to exactly?'

'Whiskers Lake.'

'What the? Really?'

'Yeah, I'm really serious about that. Not lying. I'm pretty sure Judy will be so surprised to hear that.'

'She'll certainly do. By the way, why Whiskers Lake?'

'Acheron loves to fish there. He also likes to take his boyfriend in a romantic trip together.'

'Hmm. They sound to be lovely with one another.'

Chimpan laughed.

'Of course they are, Nick. They been together for a long time.'

'Oh, okay. I get it.'

Chimpan unbuttoned his vest.

'Anyway, is there any spare trauma plates that I can use?'

…

Elsewhere, Daniel is still inside his disabled jeep. It's now morning and the weather clear but the area around him was still flooded. Also, not a single person appeared to see his jeep that was stuck in the middle of nowhere.

After sleeping through the stormy night, the young man finally woke up from his rest. He yawned and tapped his face a bit.

'Huh? The rain had stopped. Oh, finally!'

Daniel tightened the strings of his boots and he disembarked from the driver's seat. To his disappointment, he discovered that he was all alone.

'Damn it. There's no one else in this place.'

He sighed tensely before boarding back at his jeep. Having realized that staying put doesn't work, Daniel made up his mind and decided to head for Whiskers Lake instead, hoping that they were still people camping there.

'Alright, fine. Guess I'll have to hike to the lake and hope there's someone over there.'

The male human looked at the back and checked his belongings that he had brought.

'Okay. I think these were more than enough.'

Carrying a utility belt kit, a carrier sack made of nylon and an outdoor backpack full of necessary provisions, Daniel stepped outside and onto the murky flood. Ignoring the muddy sensation that he felt on his feet, he took out an area map from the pocket of his utility belt kit and since he travelled along the dirt road for a considerable distance the other day, Daniel smiled a bit that he wasn't far from Whiskers Lake.

'Heh. Guess I'll just hike a bit to get there then. Alright, here I go.'

With a nod of his head, the young man started to move out from his jeep and headed towards the lake. Getting through is a bit slow for Daniel, though as the part of the dirt road he's at was still flooded with floodwaters at about near-knee level and he was just wearing cloth shoes rather than hiking boots. Despite the hindrance with the unfamiliar terrain, the male human was unconcerned as he was used to complex topography during his former time in the armed forces.

For an hour, Daniel hiked through. He was still at the same muddy road but this part was not flooded like one spot he got his jeep stuck at. Feeling that he wasn't in the floodwaters anymore, the human sighs out in relief.

'Finally! I'm out of that flooded spot at long last. Gosh, now I got mud inside my shoes.'

He continued on hiking through and then, Daniel notices something odd. In front of him are the remains of a broken bicycle half buried in the mud.

'Huh? What's this?'

Daniel approached, keels down and inspects it more closely. Its front wheel was detached, the chains missing and the spokes of rear wheel were all dented. To him, this discovery was a bit alarming than baffling.

'Hey, could this be the missing ferret's bicycle? I might think she had ventured here before.'

He stood up and looked at the horizon up front.

'Maybe she is already in the lake? Or she might be already been with someone else over there? Guess I have to find it out myself just to be sure about that then.'

Straddling his gear more firmly, Daniel left the broken bicycle behind and continued on hiking through the muddy road onto the general direction towards Whiskers Lake.