Nick and Judy scrambled to find cover, deciding on a low cinderblock wall nearby. The SWAT officers scrambled for cover as well, weapons trained on the buildings in the areas a sniper could be. One of the officers grabbed Caine and dragged him back toward the truck. Nick was relieved to see him move his arm slightly. The bullet was most likely stopped by his vest, but it still would've knocked the wind out of him.
"Did you see where it came from?" Judy asked, her ears twitching, trying to locate the source of the gunshot.
"No, but it had to have come from that direction," Judy said, pointing toward a cluster of small buildings. Nick lifted his head slightly to shout the location to the members of the SWAT team. As his head rose, the crack of a bullet flying nearby overhead forced Nick back behind the wall.
"Nick!" Judy shouted at him.
"I know, I know..." he grumbled in response as he waved to get the attention of a nearby SWAT officer. Once he had, Nick frantically pointed in the direction of the sniper's location. The officer followed Nick's line of sight and apparently caught sight of the gunman.
"Visual! Top right window! Brown building!" he shouted, pointing his weapon toward the enemy. Caine had finally regained his senses and reached for the radio.
"Shots fired. Officers need help," he said before describing their location to any units that would be able to respond. It all happened so fast. The situation went from totally in control to totally insane in mere moments. Nick struggled to make sense of his surroundings as the SWAT officers moved toward the building with the sniper.
"Hey, Carrots we should follow those guys," he said as he prepared to dart from cover. Judy, however, didn't respond. "Carrots? Are you ready?" Still, there was no response. He turned around and saw nothing. Judy wasn't there. "Carrots? Judy!?" Nick yelled, panic growing in his mind. He starting moving, though he wasn't sure which direction to go. She just up and vanished.
He then noticed soem scuff marks on the ground. How had he not heard anything? He followed the marks toward another building. It was an old decrepit building on the outskirts of the town center. He slowly walked inside. The first thing he noticed was that there were no more marks to follow, which meant he was now trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Then he heard it, a muffled yell. He couldn't be sure, but it definitely sounded like Judy's voice. It was coming from upstairs, so Nick drew his sidearm and moved toward the source of the sound. He reached the second floor and faced a hallway. The floor and walls looked like they were falling apart and would've appeared to be abandoned had it not been for the light coming from underneath the last door on the left.
Nick approached the door slowing making sure his feet wouldn't cause the floorboards to squeak. He got close to the door just as he heard the muffled yell again. It was definitely Judy. He inched closer to the door, trying to get an idea of how many people were inside. Then he misplaced a step. The loud creak certainly alerted anyone inside to his presence.
Welp. Now or never.
Nick threw his shoulder into the door, causing it to fly open. He raised his weapon as he took in the room. The first thing he noticed was Judy. The second thing he noticed was the large ram holding her. He was holding her mouth shut and doing his best to keep her arms and legs from flailing. Nick had to admit he was doing a surprisingly good job despite Judy's power hind legs. The third thing he noticed was the little sheep named Bellwether.
Bellwether turned quickly at the crashing sound of Nick's entrance. Moving surprisingly fast, she grabbed Judy from the ram's grasp, holding her by the neck. She then held something up to Judy's head, it took Nick a second, but he saw it was a small gun.
"Go!" she barked to her henchman. He obliged and left out another door in the room, leaving only Bellwether, Judy, and Nick alone in the room. "Take one step forward, fox, and I'll pump her full of lead!" she shouted at Nick. Nick took a step back and lowered his weapon slightly.
"OK, let's slow down here," Nick said in as calm a voice his adrenaline-filled body could muster. "Lower the gun."
"You drop the gun," Bellwether shot back. Judy struggled slightly, causing Bellwether to move the gun slightly closer to her head.
"I can't do that," Nick said. "Let her go."
"After all she's done to me!?" Bellwether nearly screamed. "If I go down, she's coming down with me!"
"Let her go," Nick repeated, feeling anger flow through his body as he gripped his sidearm tighter.
"You can't stop-" Bellwether never finished the sentence. Nick acted on pure instinct. In the flash of an eye, he had lunged toward Bellwether, tackling her to the ground and freeing Judy simultaneously. When Bellwether and Nick landed, however, it happened to be a particularly weak section of the floor, and it gave way beneath them.
The slammed through the first floor as well, finding themselves on the darkened basement. Both laid on ground, covered in dust, for several seconds, letting the shock of the fall wear off.
Nick recovered first. He stood slowly, his body sore, and noted he still had his sidearm in his hand. Bellwether started to stand.
"Dawn Bellwether, you are under arrest," he said through labored breaths.
"No, you can't stop what's coming," Bellwether replied, also breathing hard.
"Why are you doing all this?" Nick couldn't stop the question from coming out. All of his frustrations were starting to boil over. "What's the point?"
"People have too much faith," she breathed out. "Too much faith in their protectors," she spat the word out like it was poison. "Too much faith in people like you."
"What did you do?" Nick asked.
"Of course we needed to improvise when Judy escaped," Bellwether continued, as if Nick wasn't even there.
"What did you do?" Nick repeated.
"It doesn't matter now, just arrest me," Bellwether, holding her hands out in front of her. Nick wanted to step forward and put cuffs on her, but his feet refused to move. "What are you waiting for?" she asked.
Nick slowly lifted his weapon, like he had no control of it. But he had total control. All of his anger toward Bellwether started boiling to the surface; anger toward the creature that tried to ruin his best friend's life; anger toward the creature that tortured her.
"Whoa, calm down," Bellwether said when she noticed the gun raising.
"Why should I let you live?" he asked. "So you can blackmail someone else; try to ruin someone else's life?" He aimed the gun at Bellwether. "Or would you just come after Judy again?" He slowly squeezed the trigger.