From what Judy could tell as she faced the pack of wolves, she had two options to pick from. Either, one, she could play it safe and hope that, by some miracle, she would be able to outrun the hungry predators. Or their was option number two, which means throwing all caution to the wind and doing all she can to get into the building that's only a couple dozen feet away from were she stood. She could see the doors from where she was as they taunted her with just how close they are. The second option was so tempting as she wanted nothing more than be in the confines of the precinct walls. She tempted a step forward, but everything logical about the situation screamed at her to run. In the end, that's the option she chose.
She had been so distracted with her thoughts that Judy hadn't even noticed the wolves starting to advance towards her. It caught her slightly off guard and she suddenly snapped back to reality, gaining her senses back. She might have been able to get around one of them, but getting passed six would be nearly impossible. Before any of the hungry savages took another step forward, Judy turned tail and booked it back in the direction she came from. It pained her to do it, but she figured it would be more painful feeling the teeth of those wolves digging into her flesh.
Judy initially had a decent lead over them, but they were quick to catch up to her. Before they turned savage, the rabbit would have been able to outrun them in her sleep; however, the effects of the Nighthowler drug drastically increased physical performance of every predator affected by it. This allowed the wolves to catch up to Judy without a problem. Again, the bunny found herself looking for anything that could possibly help her in this situation, so far she saw nothing. A sudden nip at her heels caused her to jump forward in panic and gained a sudden burst of speed, fueled by nothing but pure adrenaline, fear, and the will to live.
Not having much of an option, Judy made a sudden turn and sprinted down a nearby alleyway. She hoped to use the same tactics that she used on the tiger from yesterday, looking up for a fire escape to jump up to. Much to her disappointment, there wasn't a fire escape in sight, and though the wolves had been confused at first, they quickly recovered and were hot on her heels once again.
Things were looking quite grim in her current situation and her options were dwindling to nothing. In front of her was a fence with a gap in the corner of it that she could slip through and that could potentially give her a bigger lead, but they would undoubtedly catch up to her again. There was no hiding from them either because of their great sense of smell which took away that plan. That left only one other thing she could do. Feeling for the gun at her side, Judy figured this would be the best time to use it considering the dire situation. She could get through the fence which would force them to funnel through one at a time; the only problem was that she only has five darts and there are six of them. If she was able to successfully tranquilize five if them, she'd still have one of them to worry about. It wasn't perfect, but it's the best she could do; and she'd happily take only being chased by one wolf rather than six.
Narrowly avoiding another attempt at biting her, Judy dove through the small opening just in time. She rolled forward a few feet before coming to an abrupt stop as she slammed into a wall opposite of the fence. Immediately upon stopping, Judy unholstered her gun and aimed towards the hole, and just in time. Just as she raised the tranque up the first wolf was already done crawling through. Judy pulled the trigger and watched the dart fly towards its target, hitting the lupine with an audible 'thud'. The wolf snarled and reeled back from being shot; it stumbled around for a few seconds trying to bite at the dart, before ultimately dropping to the ground. One down, four to go, Judy smiled. Then it's time to run for my life again, she reminded herself.
The others stopped for a moment to study their fallen packmate, but it must of not bothered them that much since they began crawling through the fence again. They did this one by one, and every time one got through she would shoot them and watch as they collapsed to ground. It was too easy, like shooting fish in a barrel; she thought wolves were smarter than this. As she was about to shoot her last dart, the sound of light steps from behind caught her attention. Her ears perked up in alarm and she tensed up as she realized what was going on. Their was only one wolf stood in front of her and she still has a dart left, which left one of the savages unaccounted for. However, she had a feeling she knew where he was.
Flipping her position to the side, Judy glanced in the direction of the steps. As she expected, the other wolf had looped around to try and flank her. Thank goodness for her good hearing or she would undoubtedly been killed by him.
Noticing that he had been spotted, the wolf stopped stalking and began sprinting towards her with his mouth open wide. Judy had to react lightning quick as she raised her gun and shot just as the canine pounced at her. As the hound came flying at her, the rabbit knew she had no way of dodging it in time so she braced herself for the impact of the large beast. The wolf slammed into her and Judy rolled onto her back, going with the impact of the blow then using her powerful legs to send him flying behind her at the other wolf. Luckily, the tranquilizer had knocked him out just in time so it was all just dead weight.
That was thrilling, Judy breathed out as she dusted herself off. She looked towards the only conscious wolf left who was currently picking himself off the ground from having his friend kicked over at him. Judy thought it would probably be best if she left before the wolf recovered. Taking a deep breath, the bunny bounded off down the way the wolf tried to flank her. Now Judy needed to really find somewhere safe. She wouldn't be able to outrun the savage for long, and hiding would be practically impossible with the wolves heightened sense of smell. She was all out of plans, what she needs right now is some sort of miracle.
Just as the bunny predicted, the wolf made a quick recovery and was in hot pursuit of her again. Can I get a little break here, she cried to herself. Seriously, the frustration of getting chased for the past two days is starting to get to her. I swear if I ever get out of this hell I'm taking a year long vacation.
Out of the corner of her eye, Judy spotted an open door to one of the very few buildings that are still intact in this area of the city. She made a last second judgment call and decided to make a hard turn towards the building. She ran through the door into the apartment building and scrambled towards the nearest staircase. Her hope was to get to an open room and lock herself in. The wolf may be strong, but he can't bust his way through a solid door. Judy climbed to each floor in search of a door that was open. At this point it is her last hope; if she can't get into a room there is no way she can run any longer to stay away from the wolf. She may be in great shape, but running at nearly a full sprint for this long is taking it's toll on her and she could feel herself fading quickly.
She ran to every door and jiggled the door knob, but it wasn't until she reached the fourth floor when she finally got lucky. Halfway down the hall one of the doors was cracked open, allowing for Judy to come crashing into the room, followed by slamming the door shut and locking it. She didn't know exactly where the wolf was behind her, but she heard him the entire way up here.
Judy backed up slowly away from the door, letting out short raspy breaths, until she hit the back wall. She slid down the wall and sat down, grasping to her knees. She was about to relax, but the sound of sniffing caused her to tense up and snap her head back up towards the door. She could see the shadow of the beast from under the door, the wolf himself being just behind it. She didn't know why, but Judy started holding her breath. Maybe she was terrified that the savage would be able to hear her heartbeat if she kept breathing. The bunny prayed that the wolf would just leave her alone. Much to her surprise, it seems like her prayer was answered as she saw the wolf start to disappear. It took her a second before she started breathing again, wanting to make sure he was actually gone.
"Thank the…" she never finished her sentence. Suddenly, and without warning, the wolf cane crashing through the door with a vicious snarl. Judy couldn't even react, only stare at the predator with disbelief. How strong are these things?
Judy tried to get up and run to another room, but the wolf was quick to stop her. He lunged forwards and was able to get the rabbits backpack in between his jaws. He swung her around and threw his food up against the wall she tried to run from. He licked his lips hungrily, working up quite an appetite from chasing around this pest all day. But now the bunny had nowhere to go and he was right where he wanted her. He snapped his jaws forward, aiming for the throat.
Judy reacted quickly and did the only thing she could think to do: Judy threw her arm up to shield her neck and head, and prepared herself for pain. It started off as a little sting, but quickly turned into immense pain as the wolf sunk it's daggers into her arm. Judy yelped and let out a scream of pain; using her free paw she punched her attacker in the nose, then jabbed him in the eyes. A feeling of relief came to her as the wolf released his grip from her arm, reeling from the pain; however, the savage didn't seemed to phased by it, in fact it only seemed to make him angrier. Judy did try make another escape attempt while the wolf was temporarily incapacitated, but she didn't react quick enough. The wolf blocked her exit and growled harshly down at her. He had missed the kill shot the first time, he was not going to miss again.
Judy stared deeply into the eyes of her executer as she held onto her mangled and bloody arm. This was it, after everything she had done to survive, this is how she was going to die. She felt that if these were her last moments of life then she would muck prefer to be thinking about the better times in her life, and not about the fact that she is about to get eaten. Her first thoughts went back to her family and her home back in Bunnyburrow, remembering everything good that ever happened there. She thought back to the first time she thought of becoming a police officer, the time she spent in the academy and her graduation, the feeling she had solving her first case which brings her to her greatest memories: Nick. The fox that isn't only the best partner she could ask for, but also someone who has grown to be her best friend. These are the things she wants to be going through her head in her last moments, and in that instant Judy actually felt at peace.
"Get out of here you filthy mutt," Judy snapped open her eyes and looked up just in time to see a baseball bat connect with the side of the wolf, a few sickening cracks echoing off the walls. The wolf yelped and faced its attacker only to be struck on top of the head, getting him to collapse on the ground almost instantly.
Judy stared mouth agape at the wolf on the ground, the same one who was about to tear into her body. What the hell just happened? It took her a second to snap out of the shock and get herself to look over to who saved her. However, the animal's identify was covered by the jacket and mask he was wearing. She saw him looking down at the wolf, examining it for a moment before looking over to the injured rabbit. He stepped stepped over the savage and crouched down to Judy.
"You alright?" He asked. Judy wanted to answer, but wasn't able to. The world around her started spinning and her vision became blurry. She mumbled some things and she passed out with the stranger hovering above her.
Judy felt like she was in some horror film as she ran around, and jumped over several predators who where spazing out on the ground as they turned savage. Her mind raced with questions about the mayhem that was unfolding in front of her. Mostly she wanted to know: who was doing this, how were they doing this, and how would Zootopia react to such an attack. Predators may only take up about a tenth of the population, but there are still a lot of them, most having very violent primal instincts which is what the Nighthowlers do: send a predator into a primal rage. She wanted to find out all these things, but knew there would all have to wait. Nick is more important to her than any of those things; if he's gone she doesn't know what she'll do.
Judy had made it a little over halfway when she spotted a heavily damaged building that looked to be on the verge of collapsing. She thought to herself that this was probably another initial blast zone. The cop wanted to race in and help any survivors who might be in their, but her concern for her friend outweighed that of her police duties; though the decision to leave still wasn't an easy one to make.
It had almost become like second nature for Judy to come down these roads to Nicks apartment, it being the one of two places she goes to after work. She knew every turn and shortcut she had to make in order to get to his place, so that was the easy part. The hard part was the now savage predators getting up and starting to cause chaos. Mammals who had been watching and trying to help the predators, were now running for their lives in order to escape being eaten. Judy had to look away a few times as savages tore into their poor victims. At this point she only hoped nothing would spot her and decide that she would be on the menu.
Rounding the last corner, Judy sighed with relief seeing that Nicks building was still intact and basically unscathed in this whole ordeal; however, she couldn't celebrate just yet. She still has no idea if the Nighthowler had reached this far out. She had to prepare herself for the worst. The only thing is, she doesn't know what she would do if she did find him… She shook those thoughts out of her head. No, he's going to be fine, she tried to persuade herself.
With a deep breath, the bunny took off again down the street ready to handle whatever she would find in Nicks place. Except, those plans would have to wait. In front of the building picking herself up from off the ground was a female grizzly, and she didn't look too happy. She looked towards Judy and gave out a huff of agitation, followed by an angry growl.
"Why does this have to happen to me," she groaned. The hear charged forward at her target, then swiping down at the bunny with her massive paws. Judy easily jumped over the swipe and landed safely a few feet away. This just pissed the bear off even more. She roared furiously and swung at Judy in a furry of swipes. Luckily, Judy had trained for this; having to take a class of fighting larger mammals. Judy managed to dodge all of the swipes at her, and waited until the bear grew tired. She took this opportunity and leaped up into the air, spinning around and bringing her foot right across the bear head. The grizzly stumbled around, stunned from Judy's attack. The bunny saw this as the time to slip away. Moving passed the bear, Judy made her way into the building and began climbing the stairs.
"Hold on Nick, I'm almost there."
Judy thought of a couple words for how she felt as she regained her consciousness. However, only one covered everything, so she decided to go with 'shitty'. The bunny groaned in pain as her eyes opened. She sat up slowly from her lying down position and went to run her head, but something was limiting her movement for her right arm. She looked down at her arm and became confused to see it wrapped completely in bandages, and set in a makeshift sling made from a torn up shirt. "What the…?" She examined it for a moment, then looked out around her. That's when she started to panic.
She was in a room she did not recognize. It was a very small room, and for whatever reason, there was a fire going in the middle of it. She figured she was in a small apartment building, only being slightly bigger than her first home months city; the only difference is that the bedroom is desperate from the kitchen. The door tongue main room was closed at the moment, so she figured whoever brought her here is in there.
It took awhile for her to comprehend just how much pain she was in. Running away from savages really takes it out of tag, and Judy felt her whole body throbbing with pain and exhaustion. Then there's the bite mark imprinted in her arm that is luckily covered in bandages. I could have died, the bunny suddenly realized as she looked down at her mangled limb. If that mammal hadn't been there at that moment, the wolf would of tore her to pieces. She could only shudder at the thought. I'll have to remember to thank him, she told herself. That's all she knows about her savior, is that he is a guy. She was only able to hear the voice, indicating to her that he is male.
Eventually, the bunny grew tired of just sitting down and tempted to get up; however, she extremely underestimated just how bad of shape she is in. She gave a yelp in pain and crashed back onto the ground, luckily falling backwards to avoid any pain to her arm. As Judy heard shuffling now coming from the other room, she figured whoever was in there heard her fall. There were a few quick steps to the door and it opened revealing the last thing Judy thought she'd see.
"Glad to see your finally awake," he smiled happily over at the bunny. Judy could only look in shock and awe as in front of her stood a non-savage predator: a wolf to be precise. She continued to stare at the lupine until he grew uncomfortable and asked if she was doing okay.
"No, not really. But that's besides the point," she replied. "How are you…" she tried to look for the right words, but instead ended up just gesturing to his entire person.
"How am I not savage," he finished for her. She nodded. He chuckled as he walked towards the fire in the center of the room.
"You know," he said, poking slightly at the fire, "That's a Damn good question."