Chapter 17

"Okay." Judy and Nick took cover behind a table turned over to its side. The savage feline prowled the area for them. "I've got the sheepish and you've got the stripes. Right?

"NICK!"

"Great! Love you! Good luck!" He quickly pecked her cheek and ran upstairs. Nick hated placing Judy against Slayer without a warning, but he knew she was more agile than he was. She would need to be quick when fighting Slayer. Also, he wanted to attack Bellwether with the element of surprise. Between Judy and him, spontaneity was his specialty. He would need that to face the crazy cult leader.

Slayer spotted where Nick left from and slowly approached the table. Judy could hear him sniffling and cursed.

"Tommy," she said to herself after a few deep breaths. "Mommy loves you. And she will even in death... after a bloody, awful, painful death..." Gulping, she loaded her gun. Then, with a braver face and a triumphant cry, she hopped over the table.

"Take that!" Desperately, she shot Slayer, but the bullet missed his head and nicked his neck instead.

Bellwether chuckled mockingly above them. "Wow." She smirked as Slayer chased Judy. "Here I thought a rabbit's foot brought good luck. That's what I call a bad shot!"

"Then you'll call this one great." Nick, dangling from a lone streamer, shot Bellwether's arm and landed beside her on all fours. "And just so you know, I don't want to kill you. Not unless I have to. Stall would be the right word to use for now."

"Think this will stop me? Think again." Nick warily stood up. Clutching her bleeding arm, Bellwether kicked Nick in the shin and placed her front hooves on the panel.

"Bellwether requests initiation."

"What?!"

"Password required," the panel droned in return.

The diminutive sheep turned to Nick as he stood up again. "Survival."

Nick jumped and caught Bellwether by her back hooves, causing her to trip, smack her head on the panel, and fall down.

"Nick!" Meanwhile, Slayer knocked Judy's gun away. Still, she had managed to drape a white tablecloth on Slayer's face and get on his back. He attempted to shake her off, but she gripped the fur on his nape tightly and clung to him.

"Get her hooves off that panel!"

"What do you think I've been doing, tiger rider?"

"He better not," Bellwether warned Judy. The fox dodged the blue pellets that Bellwether was shooting at him. "Or you'll be your hubby's lunch, if my pet doesn't get you first, rabbit!"

Nick ducked and fled from the swarm of pellets. But, he had to stay dangerously close to Bellwether because she could always reach the panel and therefore start the savage apocalypse. In addition, her threats did affect him. He would rather die than hurt Judy.

"Gosh! Quite the dilemma, eh, foxy?" She stepped closer to the controls, mocking him with every step. "Risk being shot and killing your bunny for billions of ignorant strangers or ignore all those innocent animals for the rabbit you love most?" She glanced at Judy, who was still on Slayer, and her eyes twinkled with mirth. "You know, she may have brutally stepped on my feelings once or twice for your useless mission, but she would have made quite the member of my chosen. Don't you think?"

She sighed dramatically and pressed her hooves against the panel again. "Oh well! She has to die, and you obviously won't do. You're too insubordinate for a predator. You know, I'm so glad I tested my original followers. They died nobly, I'll say. It made things interesting, and now I'll see who really deserves to rise above the rest."

"Initiation beginning in five..."

"Nick!" Judy wailed fearfully. "Do something!" Slayer finally had his paws on Judy. His claws dug into her sides as he grabbed her, and he flung her across the room. Nick gasped and winced as she collided with a wall and slumped to the floor.

"Four..." Nick held his breath. Slayer approached and hovered over Judy.

"Three..." She was not moving. Her eyes did not open.

"Two..." Bellwether grinned with sick satisfaction and licked her lips.

"One..." Nick knew what he had to do. He ran for Bellwether, no longer giving two cents about her blue gun.

xxx

Charlotte was chopping carrots for the soup she and little Tommy would have for supper that evening. Ever since she took Judy in, the Wilde's gradually grew fonder of the crunchy veggie.

Then, Charlotte felt it. First, it felt like a mere twitch. Then, she felt it all over, the itching, fiery craving for a bite...

A bite of what? She asked herself.

Anything, her instincts moaned back at her. Anything you can find!

She suddenly heard someone tap on her front door. "Mrs. Wilde? It's me, Lily."

Lily, Lily the bird. Food. Food for young. Food for you.

Then, Charlotte blinked, and the strange feeling was gone.

What happened? Charlotte wondered. Such disturbing thoughts... Maybe I should talk to a therapist again.

After thinking it over for a few more seconds, Charlotte shrugged and went to answer the door.

xxx

Judy opened her eyes. Her body, bloody and weary, was burning with pain, particularly her sides. Sweat and drool coated her forehead.

Wait. Drool? I'm not drooling. Judy looked up. Slayer, with drool coating his entire chin, was centimeters away from biting off her face. Before he could, Judy kicked him in the face and flipped over him. The vicious beast turned around to chase her, and the deadly game of cat and mouse resumed. Meanwhile, Nick had managed to pin Bellwether down, away from her control panel.

"Haven't you realized yet that this is the better way?" Bellwether squirmed in Nick's grip and bit his arm, drawing blood and making him release her. Seeing her window of opportunity, she kicked him repeatedly in the stomach until he was on the ground. Nick had yanked the wool on her head as she kicked him mercilessly, but she won that round. As he coughed up some blood, she returned to her panel.

"This is fate," Bellwether hissed, talking more to herself than to Nick. "This is destiny. Prey animals were meant to be superior over predators. It's our duty, and it's what we deserve! Some will win, and they will rule over the remaining preds! A revolution has begun!"

xxx

Lillian, her neighbor, the bird, the twittering sparrow whose heartbeat quickened, stood outside of Charlotte's doorstep and greeted her. The vixen sniffed the air. She would save the young kit morsels, but this was her kill. Hers. No abandoned kit was getting in between her and her delicious meal.

Lillian cocked her head. "Charlotte, are you okay?... Oh my... Your eyes... You haven't been drinking again, have you? Do you need something for your head or..." She reached for some pills in her purse. Then, she twitched and looked up at the predator with dilated, fearful eyes.

Run. Predator. Fox. Run. RUN!

xxx

Judy was almost out of breath, but she kept running to stay alive. Slayer was right behind her, practically breathing down her neck.

She did not have time to scream. His teeth sunk into her neck.

"Judy..." Nick coughed up some more blood. Bellwether had hit him really, really hard. He could hardly raise his head. But when he did, he saw Judy in Slayer's jaws and raised his voice. "Judy... JUDY!"

"Don't worry, fox." Bellwether hummed cheerfully as she turned on the projector with her back hooves. It projected a gigantic map of the world, and celebratory music blared from the speakers on each side of the dais.

"You'll both be put out of your misery soon enough. For now, witness this masterpiece! Critters to beasts from New Zeelion to Timbugtoo will give in, and the fittest will rise with me!"

Judy was quickly losing consciousness. Slayer suddenly dropped her and looked ready to chew on her legs.

Over my dead body! With her last bits of strength, she gave him a hard kick in the ribs.

xxx

Tommy crawled over to the bathroom door. His grandmother had left him in the bathroom and locked the door. He always knew adults were strange, but this action took the cake. Charlotte even left her *z-phone in the bathroom with Tommy!

The young kit did not know how cellphones worked. He just knew that his grandmother was making strange, guttural noises and someone else was screaming and squawking. He only knew that he needed his parents. Maybe his grandmother and the other animal needed them, too. But they were away...

He crawled over to the cellphone, which was still on, and pressed the button that looked like a phone. Then, he pressed another button and waited. Nothing happened. Then, he pressed another. Nothing. He did this for several more minutes with the same result.

Getting fussy, Tommy whined and slapped the phone, hitting more buttons on the keyboard. His mother's face popped up on the screen.

"Dialing... Judy..."

Author's note: *zoophone - It's like the I-phone. Sorry, but it was all I could think of. Also, Tommy unintentionally found his mother's number under Contacts or Recents on the phone app. I'll let you decide. Miracles do happen, faithful viewers! We're reaching the end! Please politely review this story, and thanks for showing your appreciation!