"What?" I rush over to the window. "Oh no." The Climate Wall has almost completely collapsed. Fire is billowing out of the wall. "Nick, get your stuff, we are going. Now."

Nick rushes back to grab his belt as I speed change back into my uniform, using the light from the raging fire outside. "Carrots, hurry up!"

BOOM!

"It's still going on!" I yell at him as I finish putting my uniform on. "You ready?" I yell out towards him. I grab the neckerchief and shove it in my pocket.

I try to convince myself of the reality of what is happening. The world will be a better place. The world will be a better place. The world will be...

"Waiting on you carrots! I don't have any reception on my phone, do you?" Nick yells at me as I'm running up to him.

We are both physically shaking. "What do you think is happening?" I ask Nick.

"I don't know Judy. Stay close, I can see in the dark. Give me your paw." Nick opens the door. "Looks like the power is out here as well, let's take the stairs." Nick rushes to the stair well and I follow holding his paw. I hear animals are stepping out of their apartments. They are worried. I hear children crying as the stairwell door closes behind me.

As we are running down the stairs I check my phone. "Nick, I don't have any reception either. Turn on your radio." I click mine on. The building shakes violently and causes me to trip when fiddling with my radio.

BZZT "-DERS. THIS MESSAGE WILL NOW REPEAT. ALL ZPD PERSONELL MAKE YOUR WAY TO PRECINCT ONE AND AWAIT YOUR ORDERS... THIS MESSAGE WILL NO-" Click! I turn the radio off.

"Nick." I let go of his paw.

"Carrots! This is not the time. We need to make it outside before anything else happens!" Nick tries to pick me up and continue going down the stairs.

"Nick. Listen." I hear something outside, through the walls of the stairwell. "Nick, those are sirens. This is real, isn't it?"

"Rabbit, this is real. And we need to keep moving. Lives are at stake here." Nick grabs my arm and we rush down the final flights of stairs and out into the street. It's too dark for me to see clearly, but I continue racing down the street towards the ZPD headquarters, following Nick's lead closely.

We continue to run for a few blocks. "No power out here either." The only lights outside are the burning plumes of smoke, and the stars in the sky. There are so many of them up there, it's almost peaceful. I haven't seen them since I was last home. Oh no! "Nick, I have to call my family as soon as we find a working phone. They need to know I'm alright."

Nick stops. He turns and is frantically looking around.

"Nick, what's wrong? Is someone here?" I am beginning to feel like we are being followed.

I hear Nick whisper one word. "Mom." Nick vanishes. I start sprinting in the direction I hear Nick running, but I begin to lose him. I take out my phone and try to use the flashlight on it but Nick was nowhere to be seen. I radio for him on our frequency but I don't get any response. I still can't make out much. I'm lost.

Think Judy. Think! … Only one place I know. Follow the orange light.

The smoke continues to billow over the buildings around me. I hear sirens in the distance. I try my radio more times than I can count on my way towards the Wall, but still no luck. What is wrong with this thing? As I contemplate the uselessness of my radio and continue to jog towards the Wall I hear someone running in my direction. I call out to them, but I receive no response. I can almost make out they are roughly the same height as me. They bumped into my left shoulder and just keep running. They were breathing heavily, and sounded completely terrified. I don't think they even knew what they were running from anymore.

The air is getting thicker as I get closer. I can feel the ash and debris specs floating through the winds through my fur on its way to the ground. I can't keep up this pace like this, I can barely breath. I take out Nick's gift and use it as a breathing filter. Nick please be safe.

Nick never really talks about his mother. Of all his family, he shows such discomfort when she is brought up. I think I've only seen his mom once. When I handed Nick his badge at his graduation ceremony. I couldn't make it out very well, but there was an older fox who showed up as we were all leaving. Nick became rigid and silent when he saw her as if he had seen a ghost. He told me to not wait up for him, that it was going to be a while. The last thing I saw before I left was them walking over to a bench and sitting down. When I asked Nick about in the days following he told me that he hadn't seen her in years. He sent her an invite to the ceremony but did not expect her to show. He wouldn't - couldn't - tell me any more. Something happened that day. Good or bad, I can't say. I'm just happy they were able to talk. I hope he finds her.

I am getting close to being able to have a direct sight at the Wall, I think. The light has been getting brighter as I approach it's direction. This wouldn't be a problem if the Sun was up or the power didn't get knocked out! This should be the last turn. I can see the light of the flames hitting almost all of the buildings. Yes it i-

My mouth drops. "Oh my-" I mutter. "What the-"

I see the unimaginable. The heat engines are on fire, the ones which are still standing anyway. They burn the sand dunes as bright as day. I see the flashing lights of red and blue as the ZPD hold back the sea animals trying to figure out what is happening. I see the ZFD behind the police lines trying to put out the flames. I see ambulances everywhere. I freeze, just staring at the events unfolding in front of me. The train tracks. I can't help anyone here, no bunny is going to hold back all those animals. I'm sorry. I know where those tracks go, and which direction the ZPD headquarters are from here. I look down at my watch- or I thought I was, I must have left it at the apartment. I bring out my phone. Five forty-six. The Sun should be out soon. I'll start making my way to the station and figure it out when I can make out where I am.

I run and I run in the direction I need to go. The air lightens up as I move away from the blazes and I put the neckerchief away once more. As the sun starts rising I begin to make out similar shops and buildings down the streets and figure out where I am. I've still have had no message from Nick on our frequency and the only message I receive is the emergency broadcast on the ZPD master channel. Many animals begin showing up on the streets as I run by. I hear conversations about an earthquake and the power being out. Some are annoyed with the cellular networks or internet being down. A moose comments the TV networks are down as well. Something has completely crippled the entire city.

6:13

I arrive at the central downtown plaza between City Hall and the train station. I see the backup generators are on at the ZPD. That won't last forever. There is a crowd outside the front entrance. They seem angry or frightened, I can't really tell from this angle. I know I can't enter through that way without risk of being stopped. I head around the crowd, back to the parking lot and use the door Nick held shut on me. I run past the empty cafeteria and into the front entry room. There are officers outside trying to keep everyone calm. No one is inside from what I can see. Clawhauser isn't here either.

"Hopps!"

I see the Chief leaning over the railing outside his office. "Chief!" I run up to find out what is going on.

I enter his office. "Sir! What is going on?"

Bogo has the look of death in his eyes. "You tell me, little bunny."

Confused I ask, "What do you mean?"

Bogo throws a folder on his desk. "Why did your fox buddy have this case checked out?"

I look at the case's files. It's about a failed attempt to damage the Wall. Images of makeshift explosives. My stomach falls to the floor. I take out Nick's gift and I grasp it tightly. "Nick..."