Nick took Yax to the Sable and pushed him into the passenger seat, closing his eyes for a moment as he thought of Judy sitting there with her fur shining in the moonlight, then he got behind the wheel and started the engine. "Okay, Yax, which way do I go?"
"I don't know!" The yak threw up his hooves. "I don't see anything now."
The fox gritted his teeth and stomped on the gas, making the tires squeal. "Then we'll just drive until you do see something." He merged onto the freeway, taking exit ramps at random and cruising a section of the city, then getting back on the freeway and trying another area. He drove in silence, occasionally stopping the car to look at Yax, then starting up again when the yak shook his head. The night wore on.
The sun was coming up when Nick stopped to buy gas, rubbing his eyes as he got back in the car and drove onto the freeway. "Anything, Yax?" The bigger animal had fallen asleep and the fox jabbed him in the ribs.
"Huh?" Yax sat up, yawning.
"Is this the right direction?" Nick was speeding out of the city and Yax hesitated.
"Maybe." The yak stared into the distance. "Yeah. Yeah, this feels right."
The fox's paws tightened on the steering wheel. "Are we getting close?"
"Not yet." Yax shook his head slowly. "I'll tell you when." Five minutes went by in silence, then ten. Finally Yax held up a hoof. "This is the place."
Nick pulled over onto the shoulder and stopped the car. They were miles outside of Zootopia on a heavily wooded stretch of road. A steep hill rose on one side, the other side plunged into a ravine. Yax got out of the car and walked along, his head weaving from side to side, and Nick followed him, his chest tight with anxiety.
"There." The yak stopped. "I'm really sorry, Nick."
The fox looked where Yax was pointing and his heart sank. There was a cut in the ravine where a car had plowed through and a burned patch below where it must have exploded. The fox pulled out his cell phone. "Dispatch, Officer Nick Wilde here. I need…" He met Yax's eyes and said defiantly, "I need an ambulance and an investigative unit at Thundercloud Pass, mile marker 9.8." He hung up the phone and started down the ravine.
Nick had descended only a few feet when he saw Judy. She lay crumpled in her purple dress like a flower tossed carelessly on the ground and for a moment his vision blurred from the tears in his eyes. He blinked them away, staring at her as he climbed down the rest of the way. She wasn't moving. It looked like she had been thrown from the car before it exploded and...and he couldn't say died, not even to himself. Had she been trying to crawl away from the fire? Had she even felt the heat? He reached her and fell to his knees, cradling her as his tears dropped onto her face.
She stirred in his arms and her eyes opened, struggling to focus on him, then they closed again. "What took you so long?" she whispered.