They didn't take any of the main bridges since they didn't offer much in the way of cover but stuck to side ones that the city had allowed to over grow. "You know," Nick whispered, "you should really be the one holding this." The muzzle was firmly in his paw and he had tried on numerous occasions through out the night to give it to her.
"No," she whispered back firmly, " I know how you feel about muzzles and I wont hold one. Its bad enough I hurt your feelings when I was walking around carrying Fox repellent spray and I'm not going to go 0 and 2."
"Cotton Tail, that was over a year ago and I can you that it doesn't take my feelings that long to heal. Especially not when it comes to you."
"I have my pawcuffs if I need to restrain anyone."
"Yeah, me too but they're nothing compared to a fully functional, fang restraining, bit resistant muzzle.
"Yet and still, no."
"Alright Fluffy, alright."
"Wait," she said putting up a paw for silence, "did you hear that?"
"What?" Nick said, suddenly alert.
"I don't know it's coming from up there, on the main bridge. Let's... umph!" Judy said as Nick abruptly shoved her hard, causing her to roll a full 3 ft away from him. "What gives Nick? You could have made me fall off of the low bridge and you went to the academy, you know how long of a drop that is. What are you trying to do, kill me?"
But Nick was barely listening to her as he crouched on the bridge, his free hand clasping his neck. It was wet and dread filled him as he brought his paw to his face only to see it stained with a blue liquid. His breathing became heavy as he tried not to lose control, knowing that the lose of it was coming soon. How much time did he have? A few seconds maybe, perhaps a minute at the most. His emerald green eyes meet Judy's violet ones imploringly. "Run," he rasped, digging his claws into the wooden slats of the bridge beneath him.
"No," Judy said as she realized what was happening, " fight it, Nick. We're not that far from the other officers maybe a few miles and they'll have the antidote up there. You can do it."
Nick suddenly noticed that he was hot, so very hot, like he was over heating in his own clothes and the urge to be naked had never been stronger in his life. He was gasping now, desperately trying to hold off the effects of the Night Howler poison but he knew he was losing. His vision was blurring as he looked at Judy slowly inching over. "No," he growled more than said, his voice not sounding anything like his own, "please, Judy, run."
"No," she said loudly "I'm not leaving you Nick. Trust me we're going to get through this together. Just, just get up and come with me."
There was a tremor to her voice but despite her fear, she held out her paw to her closest friend, beckoning her to him. Its not you I don't trust, its me, he had tried to say but cringed when the only sounds that left his lips were a series of inaudible growls. He was suddenly more aware of Judy's scent. She had always smelled of carrots and flowers, perhaps because of a fragrance that she wore from her home town but now there was something else. Oh no, he thought horrified as a cold chill lanced through him. It wasn't her perfume that he was smelling, it was Judy herself, her fur, her flesh, even the blood pumping in her veins seemed to have a scent to it. And to his greater dismay, she smelled utterly delicious. He snarl, only one base desire in mind as his prey stood there before him. He was going to capture it and feast.
"Nick," Judy said as she shivered, a single tear falling from her eyes, "please,"
Perhaps it was the sound of his name on her lips or maybe it was the fear in her eyes but the fog of his mind was clearing, if only by a little. She was going to keep her word, even if it killed her. No, he was not going to hurt one the person on this earth that he loved. With his last once of reason, he quickly pulled the already buckled muzzle over his head and growled as he heard the bunny near by say something. It didn't matter though, he didn't seem to know her anyway but somehow he knew that he was fighting the urge to rip her throat out. Cuffs he thought, then his mind left him again and his paws swatted at the metal restraints until he came back to himself again. But it was only going to last a few seconds and it was taking so much effort to hold on to those precious seconds that he felt as though he was going to faint. No, don't give into it. You can't give in. Cuffing himself quickly he eyed the bunny once more as he edged toward the side of the bridge. She was squeaking something but once again he couldn't understand her. She was now running towards him, arms outstretched and Nick's mouth began to water as she drew closer. He could practically taste her blood in his mouth as it dripped down his throat and with that last feral thought and his final shred of restraint about to tear, he threw himself off of the bridge.