Chapter 7: Serevena Hotel
"Sam."
The thirteen-year-old otter could swear she'd heard her own voice, swimming in the waves of the calm sea. She was half-awake, tired from the journey away from her island. Her eyelids, barely open, tried scanning for the source of the sound that uttered her birth name.
"Sam," the voice spoke again, the sound making tremors in her head.
Her blurry eyes detected another otter just like her. In her delirium, and due to the natural fog of the environment she was in, she saw herself. The face looked the same and the voice sounded the same, so it might as well be her. What else could a silhouette strongly resembling her could mean? There was no way around it. It was Sam. Specifically, her old self, coming to haunt her. The part of her she wanted gone. The part of her she wanted taken away.
"Sam!"
As the people of the old world said, the third time was always the charm. Her eyes stopped fogging up, and the environment seemed to clear out slowly, the rays of the sun sneaking through the clouds to light up her face. It was morning. They had been rowing their makeshift boat the entire night.
Yes. They. Sam remembered now. This was not an apparition representing her past regrets, as her awakening mind tricked her to believe. She was being awoken by the only other mammal she could trust, and the only one who never shunned her or hated her for who she truly was. Darkened by the light of the sun but still visible in its splendorous self, was the face of Sam's sister, Yara.
Yara was Sam's older sister by three years. Despite Sam's shorter stature, both sisters were very much identical to each other. Ever since Sam was born, Yara was always protective of her, and she was the one to first realize that something was bothering her for a long time. When Sam eventually entrusted her secret to Yara, she was initially confused and thought she could just snap out of it. The situation they were now in proves the fact that she couldn't hide herself any longer.
Sam had expected Yara to be angrier than she had gotten. To try to kill her for getting them in this mess. But knowing she would be executed for her actions, Yara took it upon herself to escape the island and protect her. Sam will never stop trying to repay that kindness.
"Did you sleep well?" Yara asked, still rowing the boat. Sam sat up.
"Yeah," she said, adjusting her throat after hours of not talking. "Did you sleep at all?"
Yara looked away. "No. But I'm not tired. I can keep going."
"I can take over for you. You deserve some rest."
"I'm fine, Sam," she said, rougher than she wanted to. "When I need rest, I'll tell you about it. I promise."
"Ok…"
Sam felt useless. More useless than usual. Since she shaved her whiskers, she wouldn't be competent in trying to get them some food. They would have to scavenge whatever they could from the rivers in Seaotter.
"Do you regret it yet?" Sam asked suddenly.
"Regret what?" She asked back, still focused on the rowing.
"Escaping with me. I've pretty much ruined your life forever."
Yara stopped rowing, shocked at what her sister had said.
"You were gonna get executed-"
"You could have let me die," Sam interrupted.
"I wasn't going to let that happen!" She screamed, getting close to Sam and embracing her in a hug. "I may not fully understand how you feel, but it shouldn't be a reason to kill you. Yeah, I was angry but…you being alive and well is the most important thing."
"Even more important than The Maid?"
"The Maid can be damned for all I care. If she would've chosen to kill you for being yourself, there's no heart in me to respect her."
Sam couldn't say the same. She understood she would've been killed, but she still believed in The Maid's vision and what it meant to mammals. If she could somehow find a way to change the system, she could both live happily and believe in The Maid, as their mother had taught them from birth. She decided to keep that to herself, embracing her sister as well. Sam's face was still indifferent, but she could hear Yara sobbing.
Softly letting go, Yara inspected Sam's damaged cheek. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"No," Sam lied. She didn't want Yara to feel more guilty than she already was.
Yara sighed. "Okay."
The bigger otter went back to rowing the boat. Sam decided to help and picked up one of the oars, moving them at the same rhythm as her sister. The fog kept clearing out with the morning sun, giving them a higher visibility.
"We're here!" Sam said to her sister. She was at the back of the boat, which gave her a clear view of where they were going. Yara looked back to see what Sam had seen. Instead of an excited smile that they were reaching land, it was one of grimace.
Yara could clearly see the Seaotter port, now mostly covered in water. An Aquarium stood to their right, and they could also see a Ferris Wheel in the distance. This was the usual route that other Seraphites took to get to Seaotter due to their constant war against the WLF.
"When we get off at the port, stay close to me, alright? They've probably already sent a troop after us."
Sam nodded and kept looking at the city. It was the first time she would actually be venturing into it, and it looked as ominous as Yara had described to her. Sam knew that this was not the end. They would have to go across the city, where there were many Seraphites posted up as well as WLFs that wouldn't blink once when it came to shooting them. They would need to get through all of this to achieve freedom.
Sam closed her eyes and silently prayed to The Maid as much as she could before they eventually touched ground.
"The world is not in balance.
But I have done my part ro right it.
You have led me through the storm.
Now I must rest.
May the current be calm…"
She struggled with the final sentence, but it would be bad luck to leave the prayer unfinished. With a vibrating sigh, she spoke again.
"May you guide me home."
The last note hummed for a few seconds, and then it all became silent again. Nick's silhouette was now gone, but Judy still looked at the empty spot, wanting him to still be there. Her tears had stopped running, but her heart hadn't stopped yearning for his return. Clem and Skye were still intensely looking at each other, not really noticing Judy's puffy eyes.
"You should've kissed me then," whispered Skye, referring to the night where she sang to her while sitting on a bonfire.
"I wanted to," said Clementine with honesty.
"Me too," she agreed.
Clem kept looking at her, entranced in her blue eyes. "Alright," she put the guitar back to the spot she found it. "We should keep moving."
"Yeah," said Skye. Both girls got up, ready to get out. They finally looked at the bunny, rashfully wiping away her eyes, worrying the vixens instantly.
"Are you guys ready to go?" asked Judy, her voice a bit shaky.
"Yeah, we are. Are you?" asked Skye back.
"Yeah of course. Let's keep going!" With a hop and a skip, Judy got out of the room first. Clementine sighed. She wanted to speak to Judy about what was on her mind, but so far, she couldn't find the right time to do it. It would have to be after this day ended.
The second floor had a broken window that showed a panoramic view of the other side of the street, containing more stores than one could visit in a day.
Skye approached a shelf. "They got a bunch of records here. The Slick Rabbit!" She said, pointing at a specific album cover of three bunnies wearing sunglasses and punk clothes.
"It's The Sick Rabbit," Clem corrected.
"Close enough," Skye said.
"Uh okay, we only listen to it like a hundred times together."
"I was really only listening to it 'cause I thought you were cute," she said smugly.
"I saw you listening to Brick Shit Foxes, Skye. Punk rock music is definitely your style," the doe said.
"Judy!" Skye protested.
"Caught red-pawed by the world's greatest bunny detective," said Clementine. Skye just scoffed.
There was nothing else to do or explore in that place, so the trio just went downstairs and joined their ostriches. They could see another military roadblock uninhabited by any mammal. They passed through it easily and started exploring this side of the town.
The most notable thing Clementine could see was the flag of Animalia, waving proudly with the wind. Behind this flag was a building whose name was mostly covered by overgrown vegetation. The most important part of the name was still visible.
"Oh hey, we found the Courthouse!" Skye said happily.
"Nice work, detective. You're giving Judy a run for her money," she said sarcastically.
"Quit flirting, ladies. Clem, you should mark this on the map. We should explore more of this area first before heading inside," said Judy. Clementine nodded and marked where the Courthouse was on her tourist map.
The group headed off further to the left, finding a boarded-up coffee shop named Roarston Coffee. The trio mounted off, inspecting the store. In its many wood-covered windows were various wanted posters, issued by FEDRA officials. The dates in the poster were many years ago. Clementine looked at them all, trying to look for any face that was familiar to her.
"Recognize anyone?" Skye asked.
"No…," said Clementine. She turned to the bunny, also inspecting the posters. "Any luck for you, Judy?"
"No. They're too old. The group that came to Bunnyburrow would've been kids. They seemed to be about your age," she said, referring to Skye and Clementine.
"Man, if this Bogo did send them, I wonder why he picked such a young crew," said Skye. Judy and Clementine didn't know how to answer her.
Clementine took her newly found axe and swung at one of the woodless windows, shattering it and managing to get inside. In the counter, she found a few workshop supplies, ammo, and a note detailing more information about what went on at the Serevena Base. It wasn't as important as the other notes.
"Wasn't Nick all about coffee?" asked Skye.
"Are you kidding me? He'd trade half his stuff for a bag of beans," mentioned Clem.
"I never got it. Tastes like burnt shit."
"Thank you! Acquired taste, my ass."
Judy sighed, amused by the vixens' distaste for coffee. "Kids." It was the elixir of life, as Nick called it. She wasn't much for coffee, as rabbits were already a very naturally hyperactive species, but she'd started drinking a little bit after the pandemic, and even more when Nick kept finding it and offering it to her.
Clementine kept walking across the store, passing through some metal racks that probably contained the caffeine-filled beans. She took a few more steps and saw a regularly sized unisex bathroom. She opened the door to a seemingly quiet bathroom, before a loud sound and the sight of an infected fox burst through one of the stalls, making Clementine jump back in fear. "Oh shit!"
With agility, she slashed the fox through the face with her axe, killing him. She was still catching her breath from the awful jumpscare.
"You okay?" asked Judy.
"Yeah."
"How do they even get inside these places?" Skye asked, perplexed.
"I don't know, but I hate that shit," Clem said, continuing to moderate her breaths. That fox had given her quite a fright.
Clementine explored the bathroom to her own leisure, finding a key with a chain in the shape of a bird. It had Hawko's written on it. It could be a place useful for later. The key contained directions for it, which she went ahead and marked on the map.
"Let's head here, maybe it has something important," she showed Judy the key and where it was on the map. It was a few paces to the right of the Courthouse.
"Oh Hawko's!" Judy exclaimed. "That's a pet shop. Nick told me about it once. That's the place that used to sell pet birds like owls and hawks."
"Should we go see what's in there then?"
"Yeah. We might as well get what we can. If we don't find Gideon soon, we're gonna need a lot of supplies."
The group headed out to their ostriches. While the girls were waiting for Judy to take the lead again, she turned back to Clementine.
"Hey, Clem. How about you lead?"
"For real?" She asked. She didn't think she'd be able to get that trust from Judy.
"Sure. You're the one with the directions to that place. Might as well."
With a grateful nod, Clementine oriented the ostrich towards the front, with Judy closely hanging back. They went towards the right of the Courthouse where they had come from and traversed an alleyway in between the music shop and yet another military checkpoint. The alleyway had a few twists and turns, but thanks to the map, it was barely an inconvenience. Surely enough, they had reached the back door of the store. The name and address were clearly visible in the wall. Clementine proceeded to put the key in the doorknob and turned it expectantly. The door opened, to her immediate happiness.
"I did it!" She said.
"Let's see what we got in here," said Judy, readying her rifle, prompting both vixens to do that as well. They did not want to get surprised by a savage animal anymore.
The room was dark, so Clementine turned on her army style flashlight, currently stuck to her coat. The first thing she saw were a couple of steps that led to a door to the left. Slowly, she turned the knob of the door and looked back at the girls, nodding at them to stay alert. When she opened it, she was glad there was no sign or any sound of nearby savages.
"The hell is this place?" Asked Skye.
"Some kinda…WLF…something," Clem said, looking at the markings on the wall indicating that the infamous group had been there. Now there were only a few things that implied someone was living there, like beer bottles on the tables and unopened cans of food.
On a nearby shelf, Clementine could see many pamphlets promoting the WLF. It contained the face of an angry wolf towering over a FEDRA official, who happened to be a sheep. The motto said: They Think We're Sheep. BARE YOUR FANGS.
"What is that?" Asked Skye. Clementine scoffed.
"WLF propaganda. Reminds me of the Fireflies."
"Maybe they're mocking the Fireflies," Judy said. "With them saying they aren't sheep and all."
"That's a possibility."
"In New Zooxico we had these guys called The Ravens," mentioned Skye. "Protectors of the Constitution, they called themselves," she said mockingly.
"What was their deal?" Asked Judy.
"Ex-FEDRA types who thought FEDRA had too many rules. They ran protection rackets, they had multiple wives. Great dudes," she said sarcastically.
"Sheesh."
"Yeah…"
"Should we call them Wolves?" Clem asked.
"What do you mean?" Said Judy.
"This pamphlet portrays them as wolves, and WLF kinda sounds like Wolf. So let's just call them that."
"That's actually not a bad idea," agreed Skye.
"Yeah! WLF was getting annoying to say, honestly," the bunny agreed as well.
"Okay then! Wolves it is."
With the new naming convention agreed upon unanimously, the girls explored the almost empty room, scanning for some important supplies. Judy was able to find some medicine among the shelves, and both vixens found some ammo and a new holster in a separate room that used to have shelves of food items for pets. Skye stayed inspecting a shelf that still had food for pet hawks.
She sighed. "Gooney and Ghost would've loved this."
Clementine was taken aback by what her girlfriend said. She knew no mammals named that way.
"Uhhhh, who?" Clem asked. Skye gave a soft chuckle and began explaining to her.
"They were these wild hawks I had before I came to Bunnyburrow. But…they didn't seem to want to leave with us, so…" she looked down with a droopy smile. "I miss those scratchy little shits sometimes. Have you ever had any pets?"
"It was never really my thing," Clem answered.
"Maybe when this is all over we can get a nice little creature to take care of."
Clem grinned at the thought of her and Skye raising a flock of birds together. She did not dislike that thought one bit.
"Alright, deal. But I get to pick the bird."
"Sure thing, Sunny."
"Guys, come look at this!" Judy called from the main room. The girls went towards her voice and saw what she had on her paws.
"Some dumbass wolf left this here," she said, showing them a makeshift device. Skye immediately recognized it.
"A stun bomb! Score!" She exclaimed happily.
"You know how to use it?" Asked Clem.
"Yeah. My sister and I used to make bombs like these a lot. Yax also taught me about making bombs out of scraps."
"Then you can have it," the doe said, handing Skye the explosive device.
"Wait, really?" Skye said, dumbfounded.
"You've both been behaving, so you deserve more trust. I let Clementine lead, and I give you more ways to defend yourself. Sounds fair?"
Both girls nodded, glad that the bunny was letting them have more freedom.
"Besides, I'm kinda done bombing stuff," she said, smiling. Skye stuffed the bomb on her backpack and continued exploring.
The last place of the entire store to inspect was a conspicuous whiteboard in the middle of the room, detailing plans with a roughly drawn map of the area and directions in red marker.
"Here's their plans to hit that convoy," said Skye.
"Man, the Wolves just wiped the military out. Way more successful than the Fireflies ever were," said Judy.
"You saying that gets me even more scared," replied the brown vixen.
"This happened years ago, Skye," reasoned Clementine. "A lot can happen in that amount of time. They might not be as strong as before."
"That's true," Skye said, a bit more relaxed. "Do you think some of those Wolves that went to Bunnyburrow were kids from this QZ? Did they get recruited?"
"It's a possibility."
"Damn. These mammals are ruthless."
"The 'We'll paint the walls with your blood' kinda military," said Judy.
"Nice callback, Jude."
"Thanks."
"Alright. I think this is all we can get. Let's get out of here," said Clementine. Judy and Skye followed her out.
"Should we inspect the Courthouse now?" asked Skye, already mounted on the ostrich, her paws hugging Clem.
"I wanna keep exploring the area first."
"Following you," said Judy, making Clementine grin in excitement and pride.
Out of the alleyway they came upon another area of open pasture and destruction. In front of them was another building, a banner of FEDRA still hanging on the front wall.
"Hey, that building's got something on top I'd call dome-like," said Skye. She was right, the building was definitely dome-like. One of the points of interest in the notes they'd found detailed a place called The Dome. In front of the building was a FEDRA wall with barbed wire, as well as lookout towers for guards. They had remodeled that place to become their Ration Distribution Center, as a big metal plate on top of the entrance said.
"Yeah, you're right," Clem said, pulling out her map and marking it. "It's on the map now."
Clementine decided to explore The Dome further, getting off the ostrich with Skye. Judy followed her lead.
"Did your old QZ have a Ration Center like this?" Asked her girlfriend.
"Yeah. We'd line up for miles, and the food sucked."
"I remember how hungry you were when you first came to Jackson."
"Hehe, I thought food would run out at any second. I remember stuffing my pockets with meat."
"Oh, I know. I saw you multiple times. I remember thinking 'Who's this girl and why is she stealing all the chicken fingers?'" This gave Clementine a chuckle.
"It was our first decent meal in months," Judy mentioned. "I can't blame Clem for that."
"Come on, let's find a way in," she said, ending the conversation.
The group got closer and found an open door to the fence. A red sign to the left indicated it was a place for fuel distribution. With luck, they would find the gas they needed and rapidly get to the Fuck FEDRA gate.
The fence guided them left, with another sign warning them the area would be flammable. They took a right turn that led them to another partly open area with some trees. They went down through a narrow path across the vegetation, landing them on another barbed wire gate, with blue veils covering the breaches of it, leaving a small amount of visibility. It was sealed with a chain and lock, but Clementine figured out she could push it enough to make a sizable hole to go through.
"Can you get through?" Clem asked, turning to Judy and Skye. For both the gray rabbit and the arctic vixen, it was pretty easy, with Skye only having to kneel to really pass. The girl held the gate for Clem, allowing her to go in.
"Savages!" Judy whispered, automatically crouching on the tall grass of their new environment. "Stay low."
They could see a wolf and a fox savage, both runners. The fox was pacing around some tall grass, and the wolf was standing in one place looking at the ground. The fox was getting awfully close to them, making all three girls lay down on the grass, dragging themselves across the ground. The fox turned its back, going back to his usual spot. Clementine walked slowly while crouched towards the moving fox as Skye began approaching the wolf. With their swift ability, both girls took down the savages from behind, ending their cursed presence.
"Nice and quiet," said Skye.
An easily climbable wooden fence was in front of them. Clementine went first, her back being watched by her two companions. Tall grass still reigned at the other side, and it would serve them well for their next encounter. Clementine could hear more of them.
"Shit," she muttered, getting behind a truck and inspecting the number of savages. Two antelope clickers and a gazelle runner. She could see a rabbit clicker in the distance as well.
"Follow me," Clem said, lying prone once again to move safely through the grass. The girls mimicked her, following her trail. The tall grass made a clear path to the back of some log pallets. Skye started getting back up until the rabbit runner decided to move towards their direction. With his ugly twitching and bloodied face, he grazed the tall grass they were currently resting in. Judy saw a great opportunity and took it, stabbing the runner in the left leg, making him fall, rapidly slittting his throat with her knife.
They soldiered on towards a stacked pile of bricks, also using it as a way to hide, inspecting the three remaining savages. The gazelle runner paced around the two antelope clickers, who remained still. The group noticed its pattern and quickly moved towards another patch of grass when he wasn't looking. Skye tapped Clementine on the shoulder to capture her attention, signaling she would be going for the clicker on the left. Clem looked at Judy, who signaled she'd be taking the right clicker. Clem nodded, heading to the runner in confident steps. With impeccable timing, all three of them cleanly took the mammals' lives, learning from their time at the bank. A breath of relief was exhaled.
"I don't get it," said Clementine. "If there were still people here, they would've cleared this place out. right?"
"Maybe they didn't make it to this spot," replied Skye.
"Ehh, maybe. Let's find that gas."
The group climbed up the building's scaffolding, reaching a broken part of the stained glass. They were finally inside the Dome. Brown-painted walls decorated what looked to be some kind of church. Most of the stained glass was destroyed, but everything else was kept untouched, keeping its destruction to a minimum.
"This is a synagogue!" Skye exclaimed, the echo of her voice thundering the massive space empty of mammals.
"How can you tell?" Clementine asked.
"There are menorah decorations on the wall. It's a Jewish thing. I also didn't burst into flames just now."
"Burst into flames?"
"It's just a dumb joke."
"Unlike your other ones?"
"You shut it," Skye said. smiling. "This place brings back a lot of memories. My sister used to drag me to a synagogue all the time."
"You never struck me as much of a believer," said Judy.
"Nah. But I like coming from a long line of survivors."
"You mean after Outbreak Day?" Clem asked, going to the ground floor scrounging for supplies.
"That…and the Inquisition…and the Holocaust. My family always made it out alive, barely."
The group continued on their quest for gas. They saw a cylindrical fuel container behind metal bars. They had to cut in through a different door at the entrance of the room. In some quick steps and with barely any difficulty, which was rare for the trio, they got to the container. A gas canister stood below it.
"Found the gas. Here we go," she lifted the canister, and was disappointed it was empty. "Ugh, goddamnit."
"Language, Clem. House of worship here," said Judy.
Clementine opened the valve of the fuel container. Nothing came out. "It's empty."
"That sucks. Now what?" asked Skye.
"We'll turn and look at the Courthouse garage. Let's get out of here."
The girls began their walk back to the exit. Clementine wanted to know more about Skye's beliefs. "Do you still pray?" she asked her.
"Sometimes." That response caught Clem off guard.
"Really? When?"
"I said one when we left Bunnyburrow…I said one at Nick's grave…sometimes I say little ones to myself."
"I appreciate that, Skye," said Judy, a sad smile forming. "I'm sure Nick heard you, wherever he is."
"No problem, Jude."
"Does it help?" asked Clem.
"I think it calms me. Helps put things into perspective. It's a way to deal with grief. A way to show respect. It's what I know."
With the help of a cart filled with books, Clementine managed to go up to the other side of the synagogue to gather more supplies. They entered a dark room with cabinets, and Clementine opened one of them containing a large scroll.
"What's this?"
"Oh this is the Torah."
"The what?"
"Ah, it's like a scripture. A sacred book, technically. My sister would have flipped for this. The one we used in New Zooxico was half-burnt. I'm glad they didn't just throw everything out."
To the other side of the balcony was a rope hanging from the ceiling. Clementine could see another broken stained window with more scaffolding on the other side. She picked up the rope.
"What are you doing?" Judy asked.
"I bet I could get to the other balcony with this," she said. Without warning, she swung from the rope, gaining momentum by moving back and forth with her legs.
"Clem, be careful!" said Skye.
"Don't worry, it's holding," said Clementine, with the perfect momentum to jump to the other side.
"See? Nothing to it. C'mon guys!"
"Right," Skye said, going next. She made a run for it, grabbing the rope with enough momentum to get her to the balcony in one swing. Judy did the same.
Clementine took the opportunity to write something in her journal. It almost felt like rambling to her, but it's what her mind could make up.
When I think about him, all I see is open skin, slack jaw, insides out.
I won't let them remember me that way.
I'd rather die alone.
Did your daughter die alone?
Was her God with her?
Was He with you in the end?
Did I make it worse for Nick, being there? Or was I company?
Beyond faith in pain,
I want faith through pain.
…
"Okay, crossed the dome off the list," Clem said, marking out the location they had explored. They were back outside, their ostriches ready to be mounted again.
"Let's go to the Courthouse, then," suggested Judy. The three riders got on their ostriches and kept moving.
"It's peaceful out here, at least," said Skye.
"It's weird being in a QZ and not hearing trucks, or gunfire and explosions…"
"My sister always avoided QZs. That's probably why. She just got more and more paranoid. She'd sometimes wake up screaming in the middle of the night."
"That's rough," Judy commented.
"We always had a bag packed so we could bail if something happened. Never stayed in one place for more than a few weeks. It sucked."
"I'm sorry, Skye, really," said Judy. "The Fireflies weren't always as good as they seemed."
"I don't blame you for anything, Judy. Don't beat yourself up. Besides, whatever shit you did back then, you're making it right by protecting Bunnyburrow."
"Everyone tries to mend what they've broken, but sometimes it isn't enough."
"You're trying, and that's all that matters," replied Clementine.
"Thanks, Clem."
As if it wasn't obvious, their bad luck continued as they tried to open the front entrance of the Courthouse, but was barricaded from the inside. With their spirits still high, the girls went around the building and found the way in with the help of a military lookout checkpoint, which was high enough to reach a window weak enough to be opened. The only problem was the eerie noise coming from inside.
"Hear that?" asked Skye. Clementine sighed.
"Yeah. Infected," she said, readying her knife. She would only use her weapons as a last resort.
"This is gonna suck, isn't it?" said Skye.
"At least we're ready for 'em," noted Judy, also getting ready with her dagger. With the help of Skye, Clementine opened the window to one of the courtrooms of the building. The first sign of danger was a rabbit howler by the end of the room where the judge's podium was. The trio hid themselves behind one of the benches of the gallery.
"Here we go," whispered Clementine, pumping herself up for the incoming fight.
Further away from the howler, Clementine spotted a vixen runner in the other room. It wouldn't be a worry yet, but she had to keep it in mind. With slow steps the group followed her to the left of the room close to a door to the hallway, the skeleton of a mammal sitting up on one of the benches. Moving slowly out of the room and into the hallway, Clementine observed another runner, a wolf, to the end of the hall, twitching and moaning, its limbs involuntarily covering their face.
She quickly moved to another room to the left that contained many books on shelves. A honey badger runner was also posted at the end of that room, looking away from them. The red vixen swiftly moved to the badger and ended its life with a silent stab. The room now cleared, Clementine proceeded towards the hallway once more, this time not even bothering to inspect it as she scurried to the other room in front of her. This was the room pertaining to the vixen runner she had seen earlier. Hiding behind an office desk, she waited for the right moment to pounce and growled as she took the vixen's life with extreme prejudice, some of the blood splattering on her face. This time, she did not care to wipe it. It almost tasted sweet as she took one of the drops into her mouth.
She noticed Judy taking care of the rabbit howler to her right, skillfully grabbing one of the ears to pull him, giving her good visibility to strike its neck. Skye followed her to the door to the left, which was finally the entrance hall where they originally would've entered. A wolf clicker was pacing around, and the wolf runner was still there, moaning and crying while twitching. The runner became Skye's target, which she took out with grace with a simple stab to the head. That's my girl, Clem thought, admiring the stealth kill for a moment before she focused on her own prey. The howling of the wolf as he tried to scan the environment was cut short with a stab to the side and a final cut to the throat, sending it down into the cold ground. At the end of the hallway was a rabbit howler, the last infected of the floor, that was immediately dispatched by her rabbit mother. The group had triumphed.
"Is that it?" Skye asked, Judy joining back with the two vixens.
"Yeah."
"Go, Team."
"Let's look for that gas now," Clem said.
Skye explored some of the rooms and was impressed by the sights. "I wonder what it was like to serve on a jury. Bet it was fun. Sit down, look at evidence, trying to see if someone was lying…"
Clem scoffed. "Just give me five minutes and my knife," she said, "I'd tell you if they were lying or not."
"Oh wow, okay."
"Not a very ethical way to make a witness talk, Clem," said Judy.
"Sure is effective, though."
"Not unless that witness is scared they'll tell you information that might get them killed either way."
"That's a very good point, Clem," Skye said.
"Um, are you Judy's daughter or is it me? I'm having some doubts right now."
"I adopt whichever kit needs me. I'm a bunny, after all," she grinned. "Besides, for the time being she is technically my daughter-in-law."
"Awww, Jude," Skye said, putting a paw on her heart with warmth. Clementine just blushed. These two had no filter whatsoever.
"J-just help me with this door," she said, trying to open the barricaded double door that led to the stairs of the building. Skye hurried over to help her girlfriend, pushing it really hard to create a small pocket for them to get through. Judy being the smallest went first, then Skye, and then Clementine, letting go of the door, putting it back to its initial spot.
"Have you ever been to a courthouse before?" Skye asked.
"Nope."
"You're telling me you never got in trouble back in your old Quarantine Zone?"
"Oh, I got in trouble, alright. Just never landed on a Courthouse."
The trio went down a flight of the stairs to the floor below them. The hallway was dark, but there was also no sign of savages so far. At the end of the hall were the dead bodies of some military soldiers lined up against the wall.
"Some serious shit went down here," Skye said.
"Check out the wall," Judy said, inspecting the blood splatters and how they slid down to their bodies. "They were executed."
"They weren't just executed. They were shot to pieces," Skye mentioned.
"Maybe bullets weren't scarce yet," said Clem. "Maybe they deserved it."
"Maybe…"
Clementine found a note among the dead soldiers. It read:
Benny,
The WLF is winning. The city's going to fall any day now. And unless you quit FEDRA, I can't keep you safe.
Up until recently, I could almost understand why you stuck with them, but after the Thursday Market massacre, I don't see how you can call us 'misguided killers' with a straight face. Those people were just trying to get food for their families!
Listen: you still have time. I will vouch for you. Meet me by Roarston Coffee at 2am on Friday, alone, Please show up. I know it's scary, but it's the only way.
Your Friend,
Sandra
"Brought it on yourself, I guess," Clem said. She imagined the friendship did not end so well.
She found a locked office that she broke into with her axe, finding another dead officer with a machete stuck to his neck, also leaning on a wall.
"This'll come in handy," she said, forcefully taking the machete out of his throat, a note coming out of his front pocket as he fell to the ground. She grabbed it and began reading it.
"What's it say?" asked Judy.
"This guy was a FEDRA commander or something. They were losing to the Wolves and trying to escape."
"How big is this group if they were able to beat the army?" asked the brown vixen.
"You don't need a lot if you're that vicious. We need to be careful."
"The sooner we get Gideon the better," Judy commented.
Now out of the office, Clementine approached an elevator system no longer in use. In between the two unusable elevators was the guide of the floors. She quickly found her point of interest.
"Parking garage," she read. They needed to go down.
"That's where the gas is, right?"
"That's what the note said."
"Let's get down there, carefully," Judy said.
Clementine held onto a rope placed in the elevator shaft and slid herself down, landing on top of the elevator. Opening the hatch, she landed inside the elevator, which was covered in water that reached her ankles. She heard Judy and Skye sliding down the rope carefully as well.
Now with all three of them inside the elevator, Clementine began forcing open the metal door of the machine, letting Judy and Skye go first.
"Shit!" exclaimed Judy, as a savage otter began running to her. She got out her pistol and shot once, making it fall in the water. Clementine escaped the door hold and went into the garage, immediately pulling out her weapon as more savages began their attack on the trio.
"Here!" She handed Skye the axe, opting to use the machete herself. With aggressiveness, she swung the machete hard against one of the enemies, a savage hyena, slicing them in the neck. Skye did her part and with the help of one of the cars in the garage jumped on top of a rhino infected that threatened to pummel Judy. On top of the rhino, the brown vixen sent an unruly amount of axe shots directly onto his brain. Since his skin was rough, it took some work before it finally pushed itself into the brain, sending him down with a big splash.
Judy was occupied herself, running from two panther clickers gaining close on her. With one of the pillars of the parking garage, she jumped and pushed herself on it with her legs, flying above the two panthers, managing to take out one of them while in the air. As she landed, the panther that was left began abrasively running towards her, only getting stopped by a massive axe swing from the arctic vixen, decapitating it.
"Help me!" screamed Clementine, currently being held prisoner by the forcefulness of a fox howler, threatening to bite off her neck. Both girls went to try to help, but only Judy managed to get close, as Skye got crowded by three rabbit runners, which made her run in the other direction. Judy jumped on top of the fox howler with intense rage, breaking its neck with her strong thighs.
She didn't have time to say thanks due to seeing the state her girlfriend was in, still jam-packed with savage mammals trying to bite her. Clementine used one of the items she had brought for her journey, a Molotov Cocktail, and launched it with precision at the rabbit congregation, with care not to roast her own lover in the process. Hitting one of the rabbits in the head, the bottle broke, sending sparks of fire in all directions, managing to hit all three savages. It was great that they were not smart enough to use the water below them to try to put themselves out. Like domino pieces, they went down one after the other.
"They're in the walls!" Judy screamed, capturing the attention of both vixens, who thought the fight was over. More savage animals began crawling through small gaps in the walls of the garage.
"You gotta be fff…"
Clementine said fuck-all to ammo conservation for the time being, and with as much precision as she could muster, started shooting at the savages, hitting some in the head. Judy and Skye followed her lead, also using their guns smartly, making each shot count. Some of the savages got lucky and successfully crawled out of their holes, doing their best to reach the group. The ones who even dared to get close had a few visits from the axe, the machete, or Judy's unnatural leg strength. Before even realizing it, they had finished off all of them. All three of them were panting, drenched in blood, sweat, and more blood. The water around them became reddish gray.
"Sweet cheese and crackers," said Clem, huffing. "I think that's all of them."
"Those FEDRA guys never even made it out of the garage, damn," mentioned Skye. "Well, let's go find that gas."
"Everybody okay? No bites?" Asked Judy.
"I'm good," replied Clementine.
"Same here. Jude, you gotta teach me to use the legs like that. It's very impressive," Skye said.
"It's all about the leg exercises," said Judy. "I also think we got an unfair advantage, since we have naturally strong legs."
"I gotta have whatever proteins you got. I have to be able to crush someone's neck with my thighs."
"That was stupid of Judy, though," Clementine said. "That howler could've bit her on the thigh."
"She saved your life, Clem."
"Yeah, but she shouldn't save mine at the expense of hers!" she said, louder than she wanted to.
"I'll be more careful next time, alright? I know it was stupid but it was a spur of the moment decision." Judy said to Clem. "Let's just get that gas and get out."
The mood was soured. Clementine didn't want that to happen, but she didn't want this trip to kill someone else she cared about. The bunny was extremely cautious in the beginning, so what changed?
The gas container was on a surface above the water. Clementine climbed this surface and prayed that all their hard work could be paid off. They deserved a win after all they had gone through. Taking the gas canister she had obtained from the synagogue, Clementine turned the valve of the container, hoping to receive the necessary fuel.
"And?" Skye asked expectantly.
"Wait…" Clementine said. A beautiful stream came out of the container and began filling the canister. "We got gasoline!" she said with a smile to the two girls in the water-filled ground.
"Our luck's changing."
"Don't jinx us, Skye," said Judy.
With enough fuel in the canister, Clementine put it back in her backpack. "The Fuck FEDRA gate is calling to us!"
"Now how do we get out of here?"
A quick look around was enough for Clementine to see two garage doors that could be opened with a pull chain to the side of them.
"Guys, come here," she called to them as she began pulling the chain, opening one of the garage doors.
"Coming!" said Skye, holding the garage door open for both girls to get through first. "Come on!"
As soon as Judy got out, Clementine held the door from the outside, allowing Skye to pass through. When Skye passed, she helped the red vixen lower the door gently to not make a sound.
"Good job, babe," Clem said, offering her a hand to get up.
"Thanks," Skye said cutely. "Don't call me babe again, though. That's why we made our nicknames."
"Yeah yeah, let's just go, Snowdrop."
"Much better."
Back to their ostriches, the girls began their trip back to the gate. "Onwards, Shimmer and Glimmer!" screamed Skye.
"How are you girls holding up?" asked Clementine. "Getting homesick?"
"A little bit," said Skye.
"I miss my parents," said Judy. "I haven't been separated from them like this in a while. You, Clem?"
"I miss having a roof over my head," answered Clem.
"You know, I've always dreamed of fixing up a farm outside of Bunnyburrow," said Skye.
"Why wouldn't you stay in town?" asked Clementine.
"I don't know. I like the idea of real space."
"Sounds lonely."
"Only if you're doing it alone," Skye said softly, giving Clementine goosebumps. The thought of living together with her on a farm had already crossed her mind back in Bunnyburrow. Losing Nick had almost made her forget she still had a future to look forward to.
"Hehe, okay. So are we going to like…raise chickens and other wild birds?"
"Are you making fun of me?" asked the arctic vixen. Clementine smiled.
"No. It actually sounds kinda nice."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really."
"Count me in, if you guys wouldn't hate me being on your farm," said Judy.
"Jude, I will name the farm after you, of course you're invited to live there," Skye said, not faltering on her words.
"Glad to know."
In just a few minutes, they were back at the broken wall that gave them passage to Downtown Seaotter.
"Well, that was an adventure," said Skye.
"Haven't found Gideon yet," Clementine said discouraged. Haven't found any of them either, she thought to herself.
"Hey, it's a big city. We've barely started looking."
"Yeah. Just thought I'd see at least one Wolf by now."
Now at the Fuck FEDRA gate, Clementine made her way to the generator, gas canister at the ready.
"Here we go," she said, pouring the contents of the canister into the machine. "Alright."
"I got it," Skye said, ready to start the generator up. "You put in the code."
"I'll cover you," said Judy with her pistol out. Clementine began approaching the gate to input the code.
"Hey, these old generators might be a bit finicky, so you might give it a few tries to-," she was interrupted by the sound of a running generator. "Oh!" she said, surprised.
"Sorry, go on?" Skye said sassily.
"Nothing!"
Getting the note with the codes out of her backpack, Clementine saw the code relating to East 2 and inputted it into the number pad. After a few beeps, the gate opened.
"It worked!" Skye said, mounting the ostrich to get to Clem. The Serevena Hotel was right in front of them.
"Well, no welcoming committee," Judy mentioned, also on her ostrich again. "Or they're just waiting for us."
Clementine got back on the ostrich, Skye moving back to let her take the reins. "Let's look for a way in. Keep an eye on those windows."
A wolf poster could be seen painted on the side of the hotel. Many of the windows were darkened, a perfect opportunity for snipers. So far, there was no sign of life. The girls jumped through another barbed wire barricade, closing in on the side of the hotel.
"You see that?" Skye said, pointing towards the hotel. "A savage just hopped that fence."
"Means we can get in that way."
"Shouldn't we hear gunshots or something?" asked Skye. They heard no sign of a battle or struggle of any kind.
"I don't know what's going on," Clem said. Judy stayed silent.
Hopping off the ostrich, Clementine climbed the fence to the hotel, seeing the previous savage mammal heading towards the entrance. Again, there was no attempt from anyone inside to shoot him, going inside without any difficulty. Now at the entryway, Clementine could hear more savages inside feasting on someone. There were about two or three savages piled up on a single corpse, enjoying its bloody nectar. There were a few more savages pacing around the lobby. One got awfully close to Clementine, which warranted its death by her knife.
She had another molotov cocktail, ready to be launched at the dining mammals. She waited for another one of the savages to get close to the group and ceremoniously launched it, burning four savages at once. A rabbit runner was left, alerted by the screaming of the burning animals. Clementine threw a brick at its head to disorient it before stabbing it on the head, clearing the lobby.
Clementine walked to inspect the animal being eaten. It was a buffalo. His entire chest was torn open, most of the ribs being emptied of any meat.
"Ugh. This one's fresh, and he's got one of those wolf patches," said Skye.
"Guess they didn't make it out with their gas after all," said Clem.
"That's good, right?"
"If those fuckers who killed Nick got taken out by some random savage…"
"Then they'd still be dead, Clementine," said Judy, sternly.
"I'm not sure that's justice."
Clementine noticed a fallen wolf through a broken window of a double door and decided to go there. Trying to open it, she noticed it was blocked by a pipe from the other side. Taking it out, she entered and waved the girls to come with her.
"They've been shot," Clem mentioned. "You recognize this one, Judy?"
"No. This wolf is black. The ones at the lodge were gray."
"Maybe someone else killed these guys. The savages just wandered in," suggested Skye.
With her flashlight, she could see three huge square containers with gas canisters on top of them. "Hey. Found their gas."
"Well, if we need any more," mentioned Skye.
The group began climbing the stairs of the hotel, with her guns unstrapped and ready to attack. There were small patches of blood in some of the walls as they went up. Now on the second floor, she was instantly greeted by a dead fox leaning on a wall, with multiple bullet holes above him and a line of blood that descended to his corpse.
"Don't recognize this one either…"
The hotel rooms to the side of the corpse were completely sacked. It was like a tornado had gone through there, most of the cabinets and tables tipped over, as well as the windows broken. Something caught Clementine's attention the most, and it was a slightly opened door that let out a red tint of light. Room 217, she could read clearly. The door made a growly hum as she opened the door. The red veils by the window illuminated the dead body of an arctic fox, its fur now a bright red from the blood. He had received a nasty beating.
"Shit…" Skye said, slowly approaching the guy. "The fuck happened here?"
Judy was motionless. "It's him," she said, her eyes wide with rage.
Clementine grabbed the arctic fox by one of his ears, seeing his face better. "Gideon did this."
"Gideon? No way," Skye said skeptically.
"It was definitely him," Judy said, getting closer to the arctic fox, admiring his beaten face. "This is one of the ones that killed Nick."
"Shit, there's another one over here," said Skye, walking to another dead animal behind the bed of the room, this time a wolf. He was also tied to a chair, but it was thrown to the side. A puddle of blood rested on his head.
"Don't recognize him," said Judy. She looked at the arctic fox and then back at the wolf. "He was using them against each other."
"How?" asked Skye. Clementine knew this as well, but she let Judy explain it.
"Nick told me about this. You ask this guy a question, but you don't make him say it, you make him write it down. Then you ask this guy. And if the facts match, they're telling the truth. If not…"
"You fuck'em up," Skye finished. Judy nodded. Clementine noticed something that the wolf had written in blood on the floor. There were four numbers and a location.
"East One. Another gate code?" asked Judy. Clementine pulled out the map, marking where East One was.
"Looks like it," said Clementine.
"This happened recently, Sunny. He can't be far off."
"Yeah…"
Skye started opening the back door, making Clementine and Judy follow her.
"C'mon. We can get out this way. Maybe catch up with Gid."
"Yeah," Clementine agreed.
With the help of a door to a balcony, the group managed to get out through the other side of the hotel, jumping on top of a bus before finally being back on the street.
"I know you said Gideon had a rough past, but fuck…"
"I know. Are you okay?" Clem asked, worried about her girlfriend's state of mind.
Skye sighed. "It wasn't pretty," she admitted.
"I don't want you to think bad of Gideon-,"
"Sunny," Skye interrupted. "If I had my sister's killers tied to a chair, I'd do worse."
"I hear you."
It had begun to rain. The gate they needed to cross next was just past the hotel.
"You turn on the generator, I'll open the gate," said Skye.
"You remember the code?"
"The one written in blood? Yeah," she said plainly.
With a few revs to the engine, the generator was on, no extra gas required. "Got it!" She could see Skye inputting the code on the other side. Judy waited patiently on top of Glimmer.
"And I…got…this!" The code was successful, making a gratifying beep that opened the gate. "Big question though: Where does this take us?" she asked as she got back to the ostrich with Clem.
"Closer to the den of Wolves, probably," Judy said ominously.
"In that case, I say we find shelter and set up camp. Maybe somewhere high up so we can scope out the area.
"I like that idea," said Clementine.
"Okay…let's look for an open building," suggested the brown vixen.
"Preferably with no savages, or WLF."
"Wolves," Skye corrected.
"Whatever."
"I still have some of those almond things, if you're hungry," said Skye.
"Eh. Not really."
"You should eat something." Skye and Judy said at the same time, surprising the red vixen.
"Did you two rehearse that?"
Skye scratched her scalp in embarrassment. "I guess I'm more like a mom than I thought." Judy and Clem chuckled.
"I'll be fine, Snowdrop. You too, Judy. I'll eat when we're out of this street."
"Deal," Skye said, as the ostrich got ready to jump over a small wire barricade.
An explosion went off below them as the ostrich jumped the barricade, sending both girls to the ground painfully. Shimmer whined as she fell to the ground as well, bleeding on her stomach.
"Clem! Skye!" Judy said, jumping over the barricade with Glimmer to come to their aid, not noticing the mammals aiming at her.
"Mom, watch out!" Clem tried to warn her, still on the floor. Skye was beside her, also recovering from the explosion. Her warning came too late, as she would soon discover. One of the mammals managed to headshot poor Glimmer, sending Judy flying towards a hole in the building to their right. She heard a thud and a grunt. Multiple mammals came to the hole to inspect where she went, but didn't shoot. "Get the other, don't lose her!" a mammal said from behind her. The animals obeyed him and went down to the hole to hunt for her mother.
To Clem's left, Shimmer whined on the floor no longer. A tiger dispatched her with a pistol, ending the bird's suffering. Skye was still on the floor, moaning from the pain. Clementine noticed her rifle a few paces in front of her. With all her might, she dragged herself to the blessed item, successfully grabbing it between her paws, ready to use it against the tiger behind her. She began aiming at him, but his superior strength ended up winning over her, easily taking the rifle from her hands and delivering a painful hit to her head with the butt of the weapon.
She only thought of Skye and Judy as she fell into the claws of unconsciousness.
Thanks for reading this story!
Next up, Eastbrook Elementary!