Chapter 17: Single bullet theory
A deep groan escaped from Judy's mouth, as the bunny sat up. She rubbed her aching head, which felt like someone had put a pot over it and then went to town with a hammer. Looking around, she saw that she was sitting on the floor inside a small room and that she was naked save for her undergarments and an unfamiliar device which was attached to her right; it looked like a wristwatch with built-in calculator.
Standing-up on wobbly legs, she then caught sight of a metal door on her left side. In contrast to the room, which was dusty and abandoned-looking, the door seemed brand new. Approaching it, she then noticed that a barcode scanner was installed just beneath the doorknob and that a note was attached to it. Raising her eyebrow, Judy snatched the note and began to read through its printed content.
"Hello Judy, how are you? Confused I predict, and maybe a bit scared. Well, I wouldn't blame you. Far be it from me to keep you in such suspense, so I will cut to the chase: You are about to be part of a little game, and the goal of it is simple: Stay alive. The device on your wrist will let you enter rooms, where you may find weapons or items that will help you do so.
I hope you enjoy this, it's all for you! Sincerely, an old friend.
P. S. This time it's for real, clever girl."
Narrowing her eyes, Judy growled, crumpled the note and tossed it away. So, someone wanted to play with her? Well, whoever it was, was going to rue the day they even tried.
Still, there was something undeniably unsettling about this setup. Why would they want her to have access to weapons? And against what exactly? And why on Earth did they take off her clothes?! The note hadn't been signed, but she had a good idea of who it was. Out of all the criminals that she and Nick had put away, ex-mayor Dawn Bellwether was the only one that was intelligent and demented enough to pull a stunt like this. Besides, it made sense considering that her kidnappers were the same sort of rams that she and Nick had struggled with the day they had blown the lid off the whole Nighthowler-affair.
Taking a deep breath, Judy extended her device-clad arm to the barcode scanner, at which the door clicked, and she opened it. She carefully peeked outside and made sure that the coast was clear, seeing nothing but what seemed to be a large and dark basement. The smell indicated that the location was either used as a bathroom or that the sewer system needed a good update. Coughing a little, Judy then noticed what seemed to be a camera mounted high up on one of the walls. This urged the bunny produce a rude hand gesture to it. While the action might have been juvenile in nature, it did manage to make her feel a bit better.
As she kept going and tried to locate some sort of exit, she thought back and wondered again what she was supposed to survive against. Booby-traps? Or maybe those thugs from before were hiding down here somewhere, armed to the teeth and just waiting come charging out of the shadows. Hardly original, considering all the horror movies which followed the same format.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Judy gave her surroundings another quick look and then made her way towards the left part of the basement, deciding to start her search for an exit, weapons or maybe some clothing… God knows what infection she could get if she got scratched or injured here. Approaching one of the nearby doors, she extended her arm, heard the beep from the scanner and peeked inside.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me…" Judy muttered, seeing only a pair of her own pants (without her utility belt) and what seemed to be a pocket knife.
Sighing, she grabbed the stuff and made sure the knife wasn't dull (just in case she had to use it), after which she set out down the corridor. However, just then a strange feeling was creeping up her back. She stopped and looked back, but saw nothing but darkness. She couldn't describe what it was, but it felt quite familiar and somehow ancient. Judy felt her whiskers twitching, along with her nose as her brain began to realize what this feeling was.
It felt like danger.
Swallowing, she hurried towards the next door, moving as fast as her feet allowed her. The next door wasn't as giving as the last; the moment she opened it a shot rang out and bruised Judy's shoulder. She yelped and hissed in pain. Clenching her injury, the bunny saw some of her blood drop on the floor below her. She had been lucky though. If she had been standing just a little more to the left, the shot would've probably gone through her throat…!
Then a deep growl escaped from the distance, prompting Judy to curse and race over to the next door. After another beep, Judy carefully peeked inside. This room, unlike the others, was empty.
The bunny could now hear the footsteps of a mysterious hunter getting closer and closer. After more curses, Judy rushed over to another door. Judging by the sound it was clearly something big tracking her; she felt that she would need something better than a pocketknife to help her against that. However, it seemed luck had decided to give Judy a break, as the next door held a Glock 17 with a single clip for it; grabbing the weapon and popping the clip into to the gun. Now armed and ready, the bunny's eyes narrowed as she faced the door, gun trained at it. The snarling was getting closer, meaning that whatever it was it was had caught her scent by now. Judy felt her heart rate go up as it got closer. Taking a deep breath, she got ready for the fight. However, as soon as the target was in sight and crawled into the light on all fours, Judy froze. Her eyes went wide and she lowered her pistol.
"N-N-Nick...?" She asked, staring at her partner who was busy growling at her. "No…! My God Nick, w-what have they done to you?"
However, instead of getting an answer the vulpine pounced on her. Judy's survival instinct kicked in, and she ducked right under the fox and quickly ran towards the door; Nick spun around and went after her. Looking back, Judy bit her lip, took aim and fired several times. She had shot at floor and walls in hopes that the gunshots would scare Nick away. Unfortunately, the fox paid no heed to the noise, even when dust from the bullet holes began to cake his fur. A soft click escaped the gun, which meant the bullets had all been spent. And if Judy's luck wasn't bad enough, she suddenly found herself backed up against a dead end. She changed her grip on the pistol and held it before her like a baton, watching her friend and partner slowly approach her, froth escaping from the corner of his mouth and his mad eyes bloodshot beyond recognition.
"Nick, please snap out of it." Judy whispered. Her hands were shaking, and a little voice in the back of her head said she should bring out the knife, but that would be entirely too dangerous for her partner! "It's me, Judy. Don't make me do something I'll regret..."
A ferocious bark was all she got in response, indicating that he couldn't hear or understand her. Biting her lower lip, Judy prepared for the fight, ready to strike her friend with the empty gun. Neither of the two moved for a while. Both their hearts were beating in a perfect rhythm, and just as Judy let out a soft gasp Nick rushed at her. Instead of ducking under him like last time, Judy kicked off from a nearby wall, delivering a strong blow to Nick's jaw which sent the crazed vulpine slamming into the wall. Using the momentum, she dropped the gun and quickly jumped on his back. Grabbing his arm and locking him in a classic police-grip, Judy held on for her dear life as Nick trashed around. But, he still managed to jump up and slam her against a wall; gritting her teeth from the pain, the bunny fell down. As she was about to get up, she saw Nick getting ready to tackle her; reluctantly, she finally unsheathed the blade and slashed Nick across his left arm, making the vulpine yelp and miss his target, though his claws still grazed her shoulder. Using this moment, Judy jumped on his back once again in two easy hops.
"Dammit Nick, it's me you idiot! CARROTS!" Judy yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping to get through him "Try and remember me, you orange furred moron!"
"Car…Car…." The fox suddenly muttered, making Judy nearly loosen her grip on him "Car...rots…"
"Yes, yes it's me you dolt! C'mon Nick, I know you must be there somewhere!" Judy hissed, her grip tightening "I know you're somewhere in there, you sly fox!"
Letting out another deep growl, he kept struggling against Judy's grip, but the bunny could tell that it wasn't as hard as before. Maybe by some weird miracle, he was trying to fight whatever it was that had affected his body and mind. Letting out a pained yell, he dropped to the ground clenching his head hissing and growling. Mustering some courage, Judy approached Nick.
"Ju...dy...must not'...hurt...Ju..dy...fri..end.." Nick said between grunts and snarls "Ju...dy...please...h-h-h..help..meee..."
"Shhh..Shhh..I'm here Nick..sssh..." Judy whispered as she held him by his cheeks. "You'll be fine slick, just hold on..."
Soft whimpers escaped from Nick's mouth, while Judy pressed his head against her chest as she began to hum a soft melody to calm down her suffering friend. As this was happening, the entire ordeal was observed through the hidden cameras, as on the other end, both Moony and Richter looked like they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"Seems like your plan has failed," Richter grumbled. Moony didn't respond and instead turned away while texting someone. "Oi! You hear me you fluffy moron! The plan fucking bombed and its on your head!"
The sheep suddenly grabbed Richter by the neck and pressed him against the wall, his face being inches away from the now frightened coon.
"Don't get smart with me, you little prick, you hear?" Moony hissed, as his grip then loosened up
"This plan may have failed, but there's still Plan B. Now c'mon, we better get out of here before the cops arrive."
Richter panted heavily, but nodded as he followed after the sheep while rubbing his neck.
"What do you mean Nick has gone berserk?!" Honey yelled, hurrying after Finnick, since he didn't really give a good explanation on the phone.
"You heard me the first damn time!" The fennec replied, jumping over a set of stairs. "I saw those bastards inject him with something and it made him go bonkers. Just like during the NightHowler break out!"
Honey's eyes went wider than saucers finally realizing what Finnick was talking about. If things were bad, now they were absolutely going FUBAR and fast; now it was Honey who was praying for Judy's safety and well being. Following Finnick, the two arrived to the basement, and saw that the door had several locks covering it along with what seemed like a strange scanner. Biting his lower lip, Finnick studied the scanner carefully.
"Mmmm... Do you think you could hack this?"
His question was promptly answered by Honey's foot, which shot out and struck the door like battering ram. The door gave after and fell apart, while the many locks remained stuck to the right of the doorway.
"Yes," Honey said. "But that would take too much time."
Finnick gave the badger a wide-eyed look. Then the two hurried down the basement.
"JUDY! JUDY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Honey yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping to get some response. "Please tell me you're safe!"
Then, both she and Finnick heard a whimper coming from nearby; both looked at each other as they prepared for the worst as they got their guns ready. Peeking around, they gasped seeing both Judy and Nick, with the first thankfully being alive and well. Seeing her friends approaching, the bunny quickly made a shush sound as they nodded with Honey barely holding herself from hugging Judy tightly.
"We've sent Clawhauser a message, the cavalry should hopefully be here with the medics," Finnick whispered, as Judy gave a nod, "Me and Honey were already prepared for the worst..."
"Heh, well guess I just have a lucky rabbits foot," Judy replied, flashing a little smile. "Just, glad to have you guys here."
The celebration was short lived, as they heard a car engine getting started, looking at each other in silence. Honey then handed Judy her SCAR and Operator.
"Go get 'em Jude; I'll make sure Nicky is safe." Honey whispered, as they switched place "Just make sure these bastards pay."
"Humph, don't worry Honey." Judy murmured, heading with Finnick towards the exit "I'm gonna bring them all in!"
Sitting in her dark apartment, Alexis stared at the revolver in silence. The single bullet which it had contained rested on the table before her. She had always believed that everyone had their bullet; with the time, date and place written on it. Even she had one waiting for her, and at some point it would probably find her; yet now she had actually felt fear. Fear to pull the trigger, fear that she might have actually come across the bullet in the chamber, fear...of death? The thought of that was starting to anger her; gritting her teeth, she grabbed the gun and quickly popped the bullet in. Spinning the chamber, she placed the gun at her temple as she desperately tried to pull the trigger. Nothing, not matter how much she tried, she just couldn't muster the strength for it. Gritting her teeth even harder, she slammed the gun on the table; her breathing becoming heavy while anger boiled in her. Who was she angry at? Herself for becoming so damn weak...Christopher, for making her feel like this...Was she angry at the world? Of course she was, because it couldn't kill her for so damn long, despite every opportunity. The anger wasn't subsiding, it just kept on rising further and further feeling like it was approaching its eruption; she wanted to burn down the whole world to the ground, she wanted to murder everyone in her sight. Suddenly a beep interrupted her train of thought; fishing out her cellphone she saw a text message from Moony.
"Things have changed; we're going for Plan B." The first part of the text said, as Alexis scrolled down "Grab your guns and help us! We're heading for the old Toy factory in the city center."
Narrowing her eyes, the ocelot tossed the phone on the table as she made her way towards her bedroom. Pulling out a case from underneath her bed, which contained a light body vest, a modified CA-415 rifle, two P30L's, a single Glock 26 some ammo for said weapons some for her DTA Stealth Recon Scout which waited in the car trunk. Slipping the vest on, and making sure her guns were holstered along with the clips, the rifle resting in a duffel bag as well as the ammo for it. Grabbing the bag, she made her way towards the door, but then stopped as something caught her eye.
Turning her head, she stared at her reflection, approaching closer she then touched her cheek just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. But, it indeed did feel wet and so did her paw; letting out an angry snarl she suddenly punched the mirror with her bandaged hand. Pulling it back slowly, she stared at blood dripping from her palm for a few seconds, and then casually wiped it away. Slipping on her shades, she was about to head towards the elevator she heard a cough. Turning her head, she saw Christopher standing in his doorway, blinking several times.
"Hey..mm...Are you going somewhere?" He asked, his eyes aimed at the duffel bag "Me and Aafia wanted to invite you for lunch and well..mm..ya know watch some movies with us."
"I am leaving." Alexis muttered, not wanting to make eye contact with the Caracal.
"Oh, when will you be back?" He asked, taking a step closer "Like, we can wait for you and..."
"I won't be coming back." Alexis replied, her voice sounding cold and detached.
That response made Christopher raise his eyebrow, as he then approached her even closer and then carefully put his hand on her shoulder. When he did that, he felt her body start to tense up while her tail began to wag faster; a clear sign she was quite angry.
"Sally, if this is about that bastard," he began, making her body tense up even more. "I can make some calls about it an-"
"Shut up," Alexis cut him off, removing her shades and staring at Chris coldly "Just...shut up, understand?"
Christopher swallowed nervously, but gave a silent nod. Giving a soft sigh, the ocelot slowly stroked his cheek as she leaned over and gave him a gentle peck on the lips. Pulling away, she slipped her shades back on and then turned away, leaving the caracal standing dumbfounded with a deep blush on his face.
"You're a good kid, Christopher and it was nice to meet you," she murmured making her way towards the elevator. "But this life sadly isn't for me."
"S-Sally w-w-wait," Christopher yelled, trying to catch up with her. "What do you mean not for you?!"
"Alexis...My name is Alexis." The ocelot responded, as the elevator doors closed after her.
Standing in the corridor, Christopher blinked several times as his brain tried to process everything, before finally whispering.
"Alexis...Please be safe."