"You can't be serious." Finnick turns the key.

Why won't my paws stop shaking? "I am."

We start moving. "Look bunny, Nick is my friend too. I ain't going to sit around when he's in trouble. Not when it's like this."

I snap at him. "You can't come with me Finnick."

Finnick yells back at me. "Hey! You're not the only one who cares if he lives or dies. We may not have similar relationships with him, but we've been through hell and back-"

I cut him off. "So have we!"

Finnick slams the brakes. "Oh have you now? Please, the things you and him did fail in comparison to what we did."

I start to laugh. "Huh, partners in crime I guess..." I shove my face into the files. Neither of us are willing to speak.

Bruce. Bruce was arrested two times. The first time was a bloody fight when he was in eleventh grade. He claimed he was attacked by another classmate. He said he was bullied into a corner during a chemistry class. Bruce had sustained stab wounds from broken off glass from various containers in the lab. Acid burns on his chest. He spent a while in the hospital tending to his wounds. He was arrested for continuing the fight after he had been stabbed. He took some of the shattered glass in the lab and stabbed his attacker as they walked away. He then proceeded to snap their spine. The others in the class, including the teacher ran. The security wolf of the school said he found Bruce unconscious from blood loss when he went into the classroom. The crime scene photos stir my insides.

The second time Bruce was arrested was for trespassing. Years ago, he broke into the Climate Wall. What? This was just around the time of the failed bombing attempt. He claimed he was being chased and that he ran into the Wall to hide. He had carpenter tools on him when he was found. They never found any signs of someone chasing him. After some time in holding, he was released once again and warned to stay away from the Wall.

He was an average student, slightly above average. He completed his general education degree after releasing from his first fiasco. He became a metro train conductor soon after he was arrested the second time. Given his past, maybe this job was mainly to have late night access to the tunnels and no one would question him, everyone would be less likely to call him in for trespassing.

"Rabbit." Finnick nudge my shoulder and I look over to him. "You've got to understand. I have to help him too."

"Look, Finnick. I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier, but..." I sigh. "...they will hurt him if you come along. They asked me to come. Me Finnick, not you, not the both of us, me. I won't let Nick, or you, get hurt in this. I promise."

"Fine, but I'll be watching. I'll stay in the car." Finnick retorts.

I look at my watch. Five in the morning. "Fine. But if, when, we come running, you better be ready."

Finnick laughs. "Are you serious? Are you asking me to be the getaway driver?"

"Yes. Yes I am. I'm sorry for what I said earlier Finnick. You've gotten so much better over the years." I smile at him.

"Na, rabbit, I'm just there for my friends." He looks towards the Wall.

I grasp Nick's Neckerchief. "There is bound to be more police barriers between here and the Wall Finnick. They won't let us through."

"So, what's the plan then?" Finnick slows the car.

"We may need to go a little farther. Just keep moving towards the outer wall. Keep an eye out for any opening in the police barrier when we see it. They may let you through if you can find a neighborhood around the engine and act as if you live there to go grab some stuff from your home." I hopp into the back of the van. "I'll stay back here, they'll recognize me."

Finnick grins. "Sounds like a plan, bunny."

We drive for a half of an hour looking for a neighborhood around the Wall engine. Finally we see a newer neighborhood with a single cop at the entrance. Finnick plays his part, and the officer fights him on it. He says he isn't supposed to let anyone into the neighborhood as it has been evacuated. It is too close to the engines. The officer says that wreckage from the explosions had flown into the streets, and onto buildings. Finnick yells at the man and pleads with him, saying he was there during the Wall event and ran away before he could grab anything. The cop reluctantly lets Finnick go ahead "for ten minutes" he said. Finnick thanks the officer and books it through the suburban streets.

We arrive in the streets closest the engine. Burnt metal and rock still wreak the air. I nod to Finnick and get out of the van. Finnick drives the van into someone's driveway and kills the engine. From the driveway, he watches me walk towards the Wall. I walk off of the streets and into the sand. The engine blew an entire section of the Wall off, the face of the Wall has been skinned off by the explosion. Debris still litters the sand. I can see the tundra, or what used to be the tundra, through the open section of engine. There is no snow, no ice. I can't feel the sand on my feet anymore. I only see the monolithic Wall before me. All senses start to fade away. All except the sound of my heart. Thump...thump...thump…

I see the door. Thump. I step. Thump. I step. Thump. I gasp. Thump. I step. Thump. Thump. I reach. Thump. Thump. Thump. I knock. Thumpthumpthumpthump.

I hear a voice through the door. "I told you to stay away." Clunk. Thud. The door opens. Travis stands in the doorway, his right eye swollen. "You will die."

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. I can't breath. "Why? What is going on? Where is he?"

Travis motions me in. "You will need to take off your police belt. No radio, no weapons. I'm sorry Judy."

Thump. "Stop saying that!" I yell at him. "If you are sorry you'll stop all of this!"

Travis again points to my belt. "I am sorry Judy. Take off your belt please. Nick has not been hurt any further."

Thump. Thump. I step inside. The inside is dark. The lights flicker as power surges in and out of the systems. "You're sick Travis. You don't have to do this."

"The belt, bunny. I don't want you to get hurt." Travis closes the door. Thud. Clunk.

I take off my belt and throw it on the greasy floor. "Where are we? What are you going to do?"

He runs his paw along the piping on the walls. "We are in the servicing tunnels of the outer Wall. Maintenance crews used to work here, but for the most part, they all left the city." Travis smiles.

Thump. Thump. Thump. "Why are you doing this? Why have you gone such lengths to protect me?"

Travis raises his voice. "Because Bruce needs it! He wants the city to feel what we have for so many years. What we have felt since that fox took everything from us!" He calms his voice. "But you bunny, you had nothing to do with the death of our family. I hurt you when I played second fiddle to Gid. And I rightfully hold the wounds I inflicted on so many others. We only wish Nick to feel the same."

My paws won't stop shaking. "So now you play second fiddle to Bruce? Is that why you murdered his mother? Is that why you've been following us?"

Travis is speechless, for a moment. "No, I only want to hurt Nick. My brother can be... overzealous. He wants to destroy Nick, not hurt him." Travis laughs. "My brother asked me to plan a lot of this, but I didn't count on the sheep. That was his idea. It was pretty genius too, don't you think? She wanted revenge on you two. My brother offered her freedom for the delivery of the message. She just took it a step further, and Nick killed her, for me."

I rush Travis. Pinning him against the wall I yell. "You sick ferret! You sick, sick ferret!"

Travis manages to choke out. "You.. hurt. me... Nick.. will die."

I release him. I scream.

Travis falls to the ground and coughs out something. "If you want him to… to live, follow me."

I look into the abyss of his eyes. "Move."

Travis starts slithering down the corridors. We reach a staircase door. He opens the door and looks up. "Top floor."

Up, and up and up we climbed. I'm coming Nick. Two flights left. One flight. We reached the top of the staircase.

Travis looks back at me. "I hope you made the right call for yourself. You will not walk out of this one. I am sorry."

The door swings open. The room is bright. Very bright. The room was blasted open and sunlight from the new day is pouring in. Wind rushing about. Burnt metal and stone fill my lungs. My eyes adjust to the bright light. Travis pushes me into the room. I see him. I see Nick. Sitting across from the opening in the room. Handcuffed to piping in the room. Muzzled. He stares at me with those big green eyes. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Nick begins to cry.

"Hello, Judy. Nice to meet you."