Chapter Seven – The Retreat to Phase Line X-Ray

"Now, after witnessing all this fucking mess unfold right in front of me, it is clear that Officer Wilde has the commendable capacity to lead a team of officers, even when under pressure, and for that, I will personally make sure that you will revive the Medal of Honor. And as of now, you are officially promoted. Lieutenant Wilde." The buffalo said only said in the most serious tone he could muster, "Don't make me regret it Lieutenant."

"I'll make you proud Chief." Nick said with a smirked plastered on his face, only to be cut off by the Chief.

"Honestly, I don't care as long as you do what you're told." Bogo snorted, clearly having a reputation to maintain among his officers.

"Now, shall we get down to business?" Nick said, taking control of the remaining fifty officers that survived the siege, "I want everyone to fix this mess get everything that is paramount to your survival, rifles, vests, and the like, I don't care about what you do as long as everyone is loaded up on the APC's by 1500hrs." and shortly after this the officers went to work cleaning the mess and the ZPD as much as possible before leaving.

"Nick, what are you doing?" Judy asked, "There has never been a situation like this and there was never a contingency plan that I know that covers massive terrorist attacks on Zootopia."

"We are sounding a retreat; we are going to activate a distress signal at the Radio Room that directs all surviving officers to Phase Line X-Ray." Nick said while looking at Judy at eye level, "I know it hurts Carrots, but you can't win a war by advancing every time, you have to rest, recuperate, and plan to be successful."

Those words calmed Judy much better than Nick thought, but there it's still one question lingering in her mind, "Hey Nick, where is Phase Line X-Ray?" She asked, only to get a smirk from Nick.

"You'll see Carrots, you'll see."

Two hours later, the remaining officers were already loaded up, with the exception of 22 other officers that rode at the hull of the M2 Abrams due to their massive size or simply because there are not enough seats inside the M3A3 Bradley, moving at a decent speed of 38 mph, the convoy left the ZPD Precinct for this so called 'Phase Line X-Ray' that Nick was talking about. Even Bogo's face was not entirely convinced, but due to the current circumstances Judy speculated that he was letting Nick take charge, this time.

'Wait, I know where this road leads to!' Judy thought, and at the moment she said this, the intimidating perimeter wall of a familiar base, "Zootopia Joint Forces Base Bravo is the nearest military installation from this place, and we are going to raid it." She thought back on the day of the outbreak, the day all this started, from the cheetah at the ZPD to infecting hundreds of mammals that were nearby, predator and prey were infected but oddly enough they were not attacking each other.

"Alright everyone dismount! Secure the base and set up camp. This is gonna be your new home for the next hundred years!" Nick said, earning a chuckle and a few suppressed laughs from the group. "Everyone, group yourselves in groups of three – chalks – and two chalks will form a squad…" Nick went around, assigning everyone their numbers and team mates, oddly enough, the chalk Judy was in comprised of Nick and Snarlov, which was unexpected to her as the friendly looking bear could barely handle the flow of jokes the Fox would say.

"Hey Snarlov, what made you join our chalk?" Judy asked, to which the polar bear answered politely.

"I just wanted to see more action you know, because it sounds like every time we do something, you get to have the interesting parts." Snarlov replied in such a way that he sounded like a teenager that hasn't been thrilled for a long time.

"…start securing the base, the quicker you do it, the sooner you could rest. Dismissed." Nick said, wrapping up the briefing. The base was still locked, and the best way to unlock a base on lockdown is through the command center. As the other officers went around securing the ammo cache, barracks, hangars and painstakingly checking the runway for damages on foot.

"When Judy's Chalk as assigned to clear the command center, they stumbled upon a garbled radio transmission, as it turns out, the Radio Room equipment at the ZPD is malfunctioning, and is giving off unintelligible words, as soon as the base started transmitting the coordinates that were supposed to be transmitted by the ZPD, a sound was heard over an equipment that looked like a radio, but it was designed to listen in to any frequency that could be used by enemy forces, and right now, it caught the frequency of an unknown operative.

"This is Savage, execute." As soon as Nick heard the operators voice, his eyes widened full of shock, but all of this was gone when they heard an awfully raging buffalo over the radio.

"All units! Set up defensive positions all over the base! NOW!" Bogo yelled, and all officers were set up all around the base, with intentions to outflank and give them the illusion of being outnumbered.

As soon as the gates of the base opened, five heavy MRAP Cougars barreled through it and stopped in front of the command building, a few minutes later a voice spoke through a loudspeaker. "This is Special Agent Savage, come out with your hands up." And a few minutes later a warning shot went off, barely missing the control tower of the airfield.

After the warning shot was sounded, the officers, Abrams tanks and the M3 Bradley's encircle the MRAP's and trained their guns on them. "This is Lieutenant Nicholas Wilde of the Zootopia Police Department, we have you surrounded, power down your vehicles and step out with your hands up." Nick's voice boomed through the base P.A. and the moment they heard this, they stepped out the car, with Nick running over to the vehicles to see the faces that were behind them.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Agent Jack Savage and the ever astonishing Agent Skye Winter!" Nick said, with a smug grin on his face.

"Wait, what? Is that you Pibe…"

"Shut up, they don't need to hear that, call me Lieutenant Wilde, Agent Winter." Nick said quickly, cutting off the vixen mid-sentence.

"Whatever Wilde, I assume you hacked into the base and used the master key?" Jack asked skipping the formalities.

Confused faces were looking at them, with Nick realizing that he is going to have one hell of an explanation later. "WILDE! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT JACKRABBIT AND THAT FOX!?" Bogo yelled, only to get a flat response from Nick.

"Later sir, we have a briefing to attend. Command center in 10 minutes MOVE!" Nick roared, it even silenced the buffalo that never got used to being shouted at.


At the command center, all officers sat down; Nick, Jack and Skye standing at the front with Nick holding a satellite phone.

After making a few calls and getting no response, Nick nudged Jack, a signal that meant to begin.

"I am going to introduce myself." Jack said, breaking the silence that filled the room. "I am Special Agent Jack Savage, and I work for the Interior Security Agency." After saying this, the officers started throwing questions were thrown at him, only to be silenced by Nick.

"I am Special Agent Skye Winter, and I work for the Interior Security Agency." They threw her confused looks, and looks that looked like something else. And started to talk to each other.

"I am Former Special Agent Piberius of the Interior Security Agency, and I used to be their partner." Nick's words silenced the room once again. "Rest assured that I am not a sleeper agent, I am still a Lieutenant in the ZPD. As much as we want to tell you what we do, I'm afraid it is all top secret." All officers threw him a look that screamed 'Traitor.'

"Yes, but." Jack interjected "What we can tell you is this, we are the only allies you have; the whole agency was overrun and same goes for the military. Whatever are in those trucks are the last equipment owned by the ISA, right now, we have a lead on Max Michaels, we think he is staying at the Rainforest District, and our plan includes the fact that they tightened their dead line to the next two days and also the fact that the savage animals to not attack them, instead, they run away from the noise generated by them especially when they are in battle."

"So is it Night Howler?" Wolford piped up, trying to make sense of everything that happened.

"Yes, it is but it has been genetically modified to resist the antidote, the antidote works because the Night Howler works like this, the Night Howler works by dulling the senses that makes us civilized and stimulating the senses that we ca describe as savage, the antidote works by stimulating the dulled senses to even out the two, but in this case, our doctors in a secret location, concluded that both senses are of the same level, with neither the 'Savage senses' above the 'Civilized senses' nor 'Civilized senses' above the 'Savage senses'." Skye wrapped up leaving the rest to Nick.

"Yes, and as you can see, we may have a crooked Doctor at the Center for Disease Control, or at Cliffside, I highly doubt the latter as Cliffside was only an observation and holding facility for savage mammals, not a place for genetic modifications." Nick inserted "Okay, everyone any questions?" when Nick said this, the previous questions that were thrown at them died down, "Use the barracks to bunk for the Night, My Chalk will take first shift and will be replaced by Jacks team at 0200hrs, Dismissed."

Nick said as he casually went to the control tower, not even waiting for Judy to catch up, he sat down at a seat in front of a console, and thought, 'Is Judy angry at me? Why didn't I tell her that? I'm such an idiot.' And thought about other similar things, berating himself for being a fool, his thoughts were interrupted as Judy and Snarlov entered the tower, with Judy sitting at a chair beside Nick.

"Hey Judy, I'm so sorry for lying to you, I was gonna tell you someday but…" Nick was at a loss for words, "But I thought it would ruin our friendship. I hope you can forgive me." Just as when he tried to stood up, Judy talked.

"I'm not angry dumb fox, I'm just surprised you have a far darker backstory rather than your shallow hustles." Judy said, playfully hitting his arm, a habit that he had grown used to over the year he stayed at the ZPD.

"Wait, you aren't mad at me?" Nick asked to clarify things 'Does she actually like my old background as an agent?' he asked himself, he was expecting a very different reaction with possibilities from a slap to a break in their friendship, after all Judy trusted Nick, and he can't bear himself from hiding his history from her, his partner, and if he was her, he never would have forgiven him.

"You know I could never get mad at my partner, even though you're an ass sometimes." Judy retorted, trying to break the ice that formed around them ever since the incident.

"Hey Snarlov, can you go check if you can fix this control center? I want to have airstrikes on standby using the giant GE Avenger drones they have lying around here." And with that Snarlov left the room leaving Nick and Judy alone for the first time since the day the outbreak occurred, a much needed alone time since the past few days resulted in an epidemic, revelation of Nick's former Identity and the eventual confrontation of the Internal Security Agency.

"Judy." Nick started, hoping to spark a conversation that could pass the time, only for it to become a conversation with a sour note. "Are you afraid of me, now that you know who I am?"

"Actually now that I think about it, I think that it's hot to have an ex-special agent as a partner, might come in handy in a difficult situation." Judy grinned, nothing is as satisfying as telling someone they are just being used, or at least, that's what Judy thought.

"Wow Carrots, first thing you think once you learn that your cop boyfriend was an ex special agent is the talents that could possibly save your fur?" Nick asked in such a condescending way that even Judy was beginning to tear up, and Nick thought that it was about what he said. "Hey Carrots, I didn't mean it that way…"

"No Nick, don't be sorry, I just can't believe that you consider me to be your girlfriend." Judy said with happy tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh you bunnies, so emotional." Nick said slyly, as the truth of those words were being displayed right in front of him.

"Hey Piberius." Jack said while barging into the room, breaking their moment. "It's our shift now, you might wanna continue this at your room." Jack grinned, the first time in so many years that he got back to him.

They both stood up and headed for the doorway when a sudden blur of white hugged him from behind. "Its nice meeting you again Piberius, I expected you to be a bit cranky though. How long has it been? eight years?" Skye asked Nick with genuine curiosity in her voice.

"it's been fifteen Skye, fifteen years, I thought you moved past that." Nick said as he passed through the doorway leaving a shattered vixen and a stoic bunny inside.

"I told you Skye, move on, he sure as hell did." Jack spat out, getting a stinging rebuke from the vixen.

"You never know anything about love Jack." Skye said, silently crying inside the room.

'Oh what the hell. Come on Jack! It's your chance!' His mind said, only to be silenced by himself as his sense of duty came first than love.


At the Base Commander's office…

"Okay Nick, what was that all about?" Judy said in a dead tone manner while stripping down and getting her belt while moving it as how one would use a whip resulting in Nick sweating heavily and taking down a gulp.

'Oh shit.'


Post A/N: I may or may not slow down in the making of these chapters as i am hitting a writers block and since this story in dwindling in terms of views. - it has an all time low of nine views and four visitors last Saturday - I sometimes even think that only a fraction of people were interested in this story so I decided to stop when it suddenly spiked and reached 62 views and 29 visitors last Sunday, so with a record of 320 views and 116 visitors, I want to tell you that I am having thoughts about making a prequel - as soon as I'm done with this of course - and making it as a catalyst in making this story more interesting for other readers, the prequel will be about Nick's time at the ISA so stay tuned and please spare some time to make a review about the story as I have no idea if you are liking it or not. (I think Venomheart's review is the main reason why this story is hanging on fibers.) But I don't blame him really - anyone has a right to hate - but I still can't resist that feeling.

With all that said, I will be busy again for the next few days deciding to write or to put the story on temporary hiatus - classes start on July 12 - until my update frequency lowers progressively.

Until next time!

-Nicholas Phillips


P.S. I studied every word in the fictionpress ratings and figured that its best for this story to remain on a Mature rating, the name changed too to make it unique to other stories, and and the same reason goes to my username as too many authors has "Nicholas" on their names and decided to make it unique.