A fox and a rabbit were sat out in the open, not ten meters from relative safety. The presence of an old baddie had disastrous consequences.
Major Pearce tossed his weapon to one side and dashed into the center of the atrium, getting a hold of officers Hopps and Wilde, pulling them to the sideline. Nick was unprepared for the sudden jerk at his collar, looking around in bewilderment as he found himself behind an upturned table.
Pearce said, "Okay, how is-" he stopped when they were approached by a particularly aggressive ram, "hold that thought," he added.
The timberwolf stood and relieved the assailant of his weapon, bashing him in the face with it.
"Okay," said Pearce, crouching beside Nick, "how is she?"
"Not good," said Nick.
The major rolled his eyes, having to remind himself that few were capable of taking on difficult situations as coldly as he did.
Pearce spoke into his radio, "Deliverer Actual, we are bugging out, officer down."
Hearing Bogo's acknowledgement, Pearce turned to Nick, saying, "Right, pick her up, let's get out of here."
"Pick her up?" asked Nick.
"Yes. You are going to have to carry her. Unless of course you want to take this rifle and cover me," explained Pearce.
"Okay," said Nick shakily.
The Major peeked over the side of the table, chaos still ensued. Meanwhile, Nick stood, at first a little unstable though he managed to steady himself.
"Alright," said Nick, "let's get out of here."
Pearce glanced at the fox, cradling the little rabbit in his arms like an infant.
"What are you doing?" asked Pearce, unable to ignore the way Nick held Judy.
"You said carry her!" cried Nick.
"Did nobody teach you how to lift somebody? You're supposed to-" Pearce looked out over the table again, adding, "oh, for crying out loud, there's no time. On me, Mr Fox!"
Nick had a hard time keeping up with Pearce as the fit timberwolf zipped from cover to cover, occasionally firing into the fray. Pearce dashed through the door at the South end of the atrium and slammed it shut after the heavily laden Nick hobbled through. The Major's neutral expression turned to one of horror as something massive approached Nick.
"Duck! Fox! Duck!" cried Pearce at the top his lungs.
"Wh-what?" said Nick.
"Hit the deck!"
Nick crouched a split second before an immense gray pillar swung over him. Standing up, he was at the foot of an elephant wearing similar clothing to the mysterious newcomer's accomplices. Pearce rushed forward and yanked Nick back by his collar.
"I'll handle this," he said.
Pearce took an aiming stance and unloaded his weapon's entire clip on the elephant. It wasn't very effective. The pachyderm closed the gap between them in one lumbering step. With a casual swipe, the elephant knocked Pearce's weapon from his paws, sending it clattering into a wall. The brave wolf counterattacked with a quick plow to the stomach.
"Son of a-" yelped Pearce when a skin-crawling crunch was heard as his paw met with a concealed steel plate.
As he clutched his shattered paw, the elephant gave a low chuckle and struck Pearce in the chest, sending flying into the wall with a muted grunt. He was just conscious enough to roll out of the way of the elephant's pillar arms that came down repeatedly, one after the other.
"Fox… Go on ahead!" he cried out to Nick, who watched in horror.
Nick got to his feet without hesitation, and, after securing Judy in his arms, moved as fast as his legs would take him. Everything around him became a blur. An imperceptible amount of time passed and Nick emerged from the building, feeling raindrops land on his fur. Blinding lights shone into his eyes and sirens rung around him.
A voice called out over the din: "Officer Wilde!"
Feeling paws on his shoulders, Nick allowed himself be led.
"Stretcher, stat!" said the voice.
Nick felt the weight lift from his shaky arms. Immediately, this roused him from his thousand yard stare. He saw the earlier voice belonged to an EMT.
"Will she be alright?" asked Nick, watching Judy's stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.
"We won't know until she's in the hospital. Any idea what took her down?"
"I…" Nick had to think, "I have no idea."
The EMT cursed under her breath then said, "and you, officer?"
"I'm fine," said Nick with a sigh, "frazzled but fine."
The EMT was tapping away at a tablet before looking up to see another figure emerge from the building.
"Oh my God," she said.
Nick turned to look - it was Major Pearce. The wolf limped and held one paw in the other, close to his chest. On the way over, he coughed and clutched his chest painfully. Reaching into his back pocket with the paw that wasn't mangled, he pulled out a used tranq dart and handed it to the EMT.
She asked, "Was this what they're using?"
Pearce just nodded, letting himself into a nearby ambulance.
"Right. Officer Wilde, into the ambulance with the Major."
Nick wordlessly obeyed. The ambulance started with a grumble and headed to the hospital. Nick couldn't keep himself from staring at the badly beaten wolf.
"Thanks." said Nick.
"What for?" Mumbled Pearce.
"Saving Judy's life - and mine of course," explained Nick.
"It's what I get paid for," said Pearce before adding, with a tinge of emotion, "you're welcome."
"Is… All that, painful?" asked Nick.
"Yes, excruciatingly so."
A nurse checked Nick over once he'd reached the hospital. Having only sustained a few scratches and some bruising, Nick was allowed to roam freely. He found a seat in the waiting room and attempted to get comfortable.
A thoroughly bandaged Major Liam Pearce found the sleeping fox whilst wandering down the corridor. He sat beside Nick and prodded him awake.
"Wakey wakey," said Pearce.
"Huh-wha-" said Nick, sitting himself up, he asked, "what happened? How long was I out?"
With a thoughtful expression Pearce said, "Hmph. I dunno…"
Nick gasped and stood up, only to crumple on the floor a heartbeat later. While he was picking himself he grunted, "I gotta find Judy."
Pearce leant forward and put a paw on Nick's shoulder, turning the fox to face him.
"Easy, easy. I've already taken the liberty of asking after the rabbit," Pearce explained.
Nick cried, "And?"
"They said they'd keep me posted."
Nick's shoulders sagged and he dejectedly sat back down.
Before long, a voice called out down the corridor: "Major?"
Pearce and Nick looked up to see a wolf dressed as a doctor approach them, clipboard in paw. Nick stood immediately to address him.
"How is she?" asked Nick.
"Ye don't beat around the bush, do ye?" Said the doctor with a wee scotch voice.
"Will she be okay?"
"Come with me. I'll explain on the way."
Nick cast a glance back at Pearce, who gave a 'go on, then' gesture, so Nick stepped forward to follow the doctor, who lead the way back up the corridor.
The doctor began a lengthy explanation: "I'm Doctor Fergus Carrson. The board made a point of assigning Officer Hopps's case to me personally. Officer Hopps is in a coma of sorts. Of course, the word 'coma' is used for all sorts of things. Basically, she's in a very deep sleep. She's doing better than we could've hoped."
"When will she wake up?" asked Nick.
"We have no idea."
"What?" Nick exclaimed. He stopped walking, adding, "you have no idea? And that's better than you could hope?"
"Officer Wilde, please understand, she took a dangerously high dose of one hell of a tranquilizer cocktail. We don't even know half the ingredients. She should be dead, and yet… She still has a heartbeat."
Nick resumed following Dr Carrson. After a stairwell and a ward or two, the pair reached a private room with a little label that read 'Hopps'.
"To be frank, Officer Wilde, to be doing this well, she's one tough lass," said Carrson.
"You have no idea," Nick said, quietly. Nick added, "what now?"
"All we can do, is wait," said Fergus, then asking, "what will you do?"
Nick pulled out his wallet and looked at the shiny badge enclosed, saying, "Keep an oath."
End Notes
I think I've sorted my punctuation. As always, give me a buzz if anything's still screwy.
On another note, I feel like my chapters are a little short.
If you've read my shorts, you'll recognize Fergus.