Hey, guys. I'm back with another chapter. So, this long might be a bit more of a lengthier chapter like the one before the last two. So, other than that, hope you enjoy.
It was raining cats and dogs as Nick drove the van through the empty highway. There were cars, but they were easy to pass around. Plus, most of them were off the side of the road, The only upside to many of them, meant they wouldn't run out of gas.
"Oh, man!" Nick and Judy heard Clem exclaim.
"Hey, what happened to sleeping?" Nick asked, looking up at the rearview mirror.
Clem leaned in between the space between the two seats to show an issue of 'Pig Hero 6'.
"Okay, I know it doesn't look it, but this has gotta be the best issue, so far." said Clem. "Except for one problem. Right here. 'To be Continued'. I hate cliffhangers."
"Hmm. I don't think I have that issue." said Judy. "Where'd you find that?"
"Um, back at Finnick's." said Clem. "I mean, all that stuff was just lying there."
Nick sighed. "What else did you get?"
"Oh, I'm sure you're friend will be missing this tonight." Clem grinned, pulling out a playboy magazine. "Light on the reading, but it's got some interesting photos."
"Uh, Clem. That's not for kids." said Judy.
"Whoa! How would she even walk around with that thing on?!" Clem exclaimed.
"Clem, get rid of that thing!" said Nick.
"Hold your horses! I just want a quick, little peek." said Clem. "Oh, why are these pages all stuck together?"
Judy's face had brightened up like a tomato, and she covered her mouth with her shirt, so she would laugh. Nick tried to talk, but found he couldn't, his face blushing, too.
"I'm just screwing with you, guys." Clem laughed.
"Buh-bye, dudette." Clem said, as she tossed the magazine out the window.
"Oh, I also got this." Clem pulled a Gazelle CD out of her backpack. "This make you all nostalgic?"
"I swear, this girl had her name on everything, back then." Nick chuckled. "Still, it's a winner, though."
Nick put in the CD, and the song, 'Try Everything', played first.
"Oh, boy. A dollar for every time I hadn't heard this one." Nick chuckled.
"Well, it's better than nothing. Plus, this is my favorite song." Judy grinned. "It was also the last number one hit she did, before the pandemic."
"Y'know what? It's not all half-bad." Clem agreed, and reached to turn up the volume a notch or two more.
"Why don't you try and get some sleep, okay? It's gonna be a long drive." said Nick, looking up to the sign that read, 'Zootopia- Next 212 miles'.
"I'm not even tired." said Clem.
...
Clem was out like a light as they got into Zootopia, driving through Savannah Central. However, up ahead was a whole mess of cars and trucks, blocking the path.
"Well, great." Nick muttered.
Clem sat up, yawning. "Now what?" she said, looking at the wreck, and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Your call, Nick. Since, you are the driver. Go back, or go to the right?" Judy pointed to a nearby highway exit.
Nick looked back to where they just came, to the blockage, and to the exit. Nick shook his head, as he made up his mind.
"Screw it. We'll go right." Nick said, turning the van down the exit.
Continuing through the city, they could see vines, trees, grass, and lots of vegetation covering the buildings, and growing out of the streets. Nick suddenly hit the brakes, as a lone wildebeest came limping out onto the street, holding his side in pain, and calling for help.
"Aren't we gonna help him?" asked Judy.
"Clem, Carrots. Put your seatbelts on, now!" said Nick, with a serious demeanor on his face, and he clicked his seatbelt on.
"W-wait! What about the guy?!" asked Clem.
"Oh, he ain't even hurt. He's hustling us." said Nick, as he sped up the van.
The wildebeest's face lit up with shock to see his ruse didn't work, and pulled out his gun, firing at the van. "Oh, shit! Go, go, go!" he cried, before he was run over by the van.
"Cheese and crackers, Nick!" Judy cried.
A whole mob of mammals wielding guns, bricks, and wooden two-by-fours charged at the van. Nick tried to evade the mob, but one of the bricks smashed against the hood of the van. A zebra swung at Judy's window, smashing it, but Judy was luckily, somehow, unfazed by the attack.
"Oh, not good!" Judy cried, as the mob pushed a bus, right into their direction, and it slammed the backside of the van.
"HOLD ON!" Nick cried, as the van swerved out of control, crashing right through the front of an ice cream shop, named 'Jerry Jumbeaux Jr.'s Cafe', and slammed into the counter of the shop, knocking the trio unconscious.
...
Nick didn't know how long they were out when he, Judy, and Clem regained consciousness, but his instincts told him they were still in danger.
"I'm okay." Clem coughed.
"I'm fine, too." mumbled Judy.
"Then, get out! Quick!" Nick said, but his warning came too late.
Two wildebeests grabbed Judy and Clem by the arms, but Nick grabbed both their feet, to stop them from being captured.
"Let us go, you chicken-shits!" yelled Clem.
A porcupine grabbed Nick, and pulled him away, as the two wildebeests pulled away Judy and Clem.
"Nick! No!" Judy cried.
The porcupine smashed Nick through a glass fridge, and tried to stab him with one of the shards, still in place on the bottom fridge frame. But, Nick proved to be stronger, as he got a grip on both sides of the frame, and back head-butted the porcupine in the face. Then, Nick grabbed the porcupine by the collar, and pulled him down, stabbing the porcupine in the throat with the glass shard.
Judy and Clem bit down on their captors' arms, forcing them to let go, but the wildebeests counterattacked with slaps to the faces, and then held them down to the floor. Nick charged in, kicked one wildebeest down, and punched the other, setting Clem and Judy free, and Nick finished the wildebeests off, by slamming their heads into broken shards of flower pots.
"Motherfuckers!" Clem coughed. "What's wrong with these guys?!"
"Catch your breath! We're getting out of here!" Nick said, as he grabbed all three backpacks from the truck, and tossed Judy and Clem their respective packs.
"Watch out!" Judy pointed to several more mammals opening fire at the trio.
Taking behind cover, Nick waited until they got closer, then ambushed them, rapidly firing at the three mammals up close with his shotgun, not giving them a chance to attack. Judy had Nick's back as she took out two more mammals that snuck up from around and behind. The fight was over quickly before it started.
"Alright, that's the last of them. You okay, girls?" said Nick.
"Yeah, we're okay." said Judy. Clem nodded.
"Good, 'cause we need to get out of here." said Nick. "Start combing the area for a way out. Keep an eye for anything we may need, later."
As they searched, and found more supplies to craft stuff with, they saw there was no going back the way they came, as the bus from the earlier attack was blocking the way. There were fences on the left and right of the road outlet. The only way through was to go through a garage Nick found.
Nick grabbed the garage door, while Judy pulled the chain up, opening the door, with Nick holding it in place.
"Alright, hold it open from the other end." Nick said, as Clem crawled through the gap in the doorway.
"Uh, there's some gnarly stuff in here." said Clem, uncomfortably.
"Clem!" called Judy.
"Right, sorry." Clem said, as she held the chain in place in the garage. "Okay, go!"
Nick and Judy crawled into the garage, as Clem slammed it closed.
"Look at this." Clem pointed to the gnarly scene in the garage. At least several bodies of mammals were laid out on tables, stripped of their clothes, and possessions.
"Hunters." said Nick. "See, this could've been us."
"That is a LOT of mammals that didn't make it." Clem said, mesmerized at the scene.
"I knew I should've turned the darn truck around." said Nick.
"We survived, right?" said Judy.
"Yeah, barely. C'mon, we shouldn't stay here much longer." said Nick.
"Oh, hold on. I think this belonged to those guys." Clem said, picking up a sack of something, and gave it to Nick.
"A smoke bomb. Could come in handy." Nick said, placing it in his pack, then led Judy and Clem up a flight of stairs.
"Hey, Nick. How'd you know? About the ambush?" asked Judy.
"Well... I've been on both sides, really." said Nick, matter-of-factly.
"Oh." said Judy, not sure what to do with that information. "Does that mean you killed a lot of innocent mammals?"
"Hmm." Nick muttered.
"I'll take that as a yes." said Clem.
"Take it however you want." said Nick. "We gotta keep moving."
The trio made it to the top, and through a hallway, past a room that served as a barracks for the hunters.
"Guess this is where the A-holes sleep. I mean, slept." said Clem, as the trio took the supplies and ammo left over.
The trio made it outside, where they were greeted by a pile of burnt bodies.
"Whoa. I don't think these guys were infected." said Clem.
"C'mon, Clem. Don't pay mind to that. We need to focus on a way out of here." said Judy.
Climbing up to a metal balcony, Nick could see a railroad bridge in the distance.
"Alright that bridge looks like the closest way out. Let's go." Nick turned to address the girls, but found Clem was ahead of them, hopping down the railing, towards the street.
"Hey, Clem. Wait for us!" Nick said, him and Judy catching up to Clem.
"What? I'm right here." Clem stated.
"Clem, it's important you let one of us go first. It could be dangerous for you." said Judy.
"Fine." mumbled Clem, then took a deep breath, and whistled. "Hey, I whistled!" Clem whistled, again. "Oh, man. I've never learned how to whistle, before."
"Oh, good. Something else you can drive me crazy with." Nick rolled his eyes.
"I know lots of styles of whistling, if you want me to show you, later." said Judy.
"Awesome." said Clem.
The trio continued down the road, right into another pile of cars and buses, scattered around the streets, only they had the skeletal remains of mammals in their seats.
"Whoa. That's a lot of mammals the military didn't let into the zone. They don't look to be infected, either." said Clem.
"Well, you can't let everyone in, y'know." said Nick. "Sometimes, there isn't enough room."
"Sounds harsh." said Clem.
"But, dead mammals don't get infected. Believe me, this is the kind of things that puts us Fireflies at odds with the military." said Judy.
Just then, a gunshot could be heard from up ahead, a flock of geese flew away, in terror.
The trio took cover behind a couple of cars, as a trio of male hunters, consisting of a raccoon, a rabbit, and an armadillo, climbed down the bus.
"Oh, brother. You had an entire flock, right there, and you couldn't hit a single one?!" said the raccoon.
"I could hit you, if I wanted to!" the rabbit snapped.
"Man, you sound really upset." said the raccoon. "Well, if ya like, I could always give ya lessons."
"Where the crap are those lookout guys? They should've checked in with us, hours ago." said the armadillo.
"That spot they're patrolling is a goldmine. Those lucky bastards." muttered the raccoon.
"C'mon, let's go see what's keeping them." The rabbit led the other hunters towards where the Nick and the girls just came through, and were out of sight.
"C'mon, it won't take long for them to discover what happened to their friends." said Nick, leading the girls over and down the bus.
The trio were now at what appeared to be a checkpoint into the old QZ for the Savannah Central ecosystem of Zootopia.
"Huh." Clem noticed a painted message all over the checkpoint's right wall. "'Give us our rations'. Why wouldn't they give 'em their food?"
"They just didn't have enough, back when the pandemic started. Sometimes, the higher-ups would just hoard it for themselves." said Judy. "Add that to the list the Fireflies have against the Military."
"That never happened back in Boston." said Clem.
"Trust us, Clem. It happened all the time." said Nick.
The trio past through the gate, and took cover behind some coverage, as more hunters were outside, under a tarp. Judy's ears picked up the sound of hunters inside the building to the right.
"Alright, Clem. Stay right next to me. We'll go around, and I'll get the angle on those two. Jude, you get that one guy near there with your bow." instructed Nick.
Judy nodded, and crept behind the large box that was next to the beaver hunter, pulling out her bow to land an arrow behind the beaver's back. Nick circled around, and took out the ferret hunter, before proceeding to drive a shiv into the lion hunter.
The trio proceeded inside the building, ducking behind wooden and metal drawers to see three more hunters conversing on the first floor, and three more patrolling up on the second floor. The three hunters broke off after their talk, and the trio went into stealth mode, automatically. Nick and Judy both took out the dog and cat hunters, then slowly crawled over to the unsuspected zebra hunter, whom Nick proceeded to strangle.
Crawling up the stairs, hiding behind the railing, they could see one horse hunter, guarding the back door, with two sloth hunters patrolling the left and right of the floor.
"Nick, I have an idea." Judy said, taking out her bow. "I'll get the horse, that'll create a distraction, and you get the one on the right, since that's closer. I'll get the one on the left."
"Counting on you to have my back, Carrots." said Nick, pulling out his shiv.
"Count on it." Judy grinned, and shot an arrow, hitting her target.
Nick crept over, and got the first sloth, who was still in the midst of turning around, due to his speed, and Judy wasted no time landing her next hit on the second sloth.
"Alright, coast is clear." said Nick, getting up.
"Whew. To the edge of the universe, and back. Endure and Survive." said Clem.
"Excuse me?" Nick raised an eyebrow.
"It's a line from the 'Pig Hero 6' comic I've been reading. Volume two. The one I got from Finnick's." said Clem.
"Aw, man. Now, I gotta start reading that, 'cause that is a good line." said Judy.
"Well, there's all these books lying around. Not much any of these hunters are reading them, I bet." said Clem, gesturing to the books scattered around the floor.
"You both must be quite the readers in your spare time, huh?" Nick smirked.
"Yeah, when I'm not dealing with Savages, or hunters, or military." grinned Judy.
"Same." said Clem.
"Let's get moving." Nick said, leading the trio out of the building, down the staircase, and into another alley, where they saw three skeletal remains of wolf soldiers.
"Whoa, nelly. You have to be crazy to string up soldiers." said Clem.
"Well, you get enough mammals that are desperate enough, they'll do about anything." said Nick.
"Us Fireflies wouldn't stoop to this level. We'd fight the military on equal grounds." said Judy.
"Blowing up militia tanks and cars are what you call 'equal grounds', Carrots?" Nick asked, sarcastically.
"I don't take pride in doing stuff like that, y'know." said Judy. "I'm just fighting to protect myself, my friends, and to make things right, even if everyone is so quick to cower and hide."
"Let's just get to that bridge." said Nick.
The trio proceeded up a fire escape, over the railing, onto a truck, down the truck, and out of the alley, leading to another open street. Up ahead, the trio could see half the road was swelled up with water.
The trio took cover when they saw two wolf hunters on top of a makeshift bridge in the water, made from a large container, a bus, and a wooden plank placed between them, with one of the wolves removing the plank from the container, and towards the bus more, to prevent from being followed. The bridge connected from a Bug-Burga fast food restaurant, to an apartment complex, named 'Grand Pangolin Arms'.
The trio came out of hiding as the hunters disappeared into the complex.
"Well, there's our bridge." Clem pointed to the railroad bridge in the distance. "We're a little closer, I think."
"We have to get that plank back on it's original spot, and cut through the complex. No way Clem can swim through this." said Judy.
"Wait here. I think I see another pallet, floating in the water. I'll go get it." said Nick.
As Nick dove in the water, and swam towards the pallet. Nick could hear a large sound on the street bridge ahead of him. Looking up, he saw a military truck, armed with a machine gun, plowing through the streets. When it was out of view, Nick could still hear the sound of rattling of bullets, and a female voice screaming.
"Oh, this place is bad." Nick muttered, in terror.
"Hey, I heard something loud on that bridge. Were you able to see what happened?" Judy asked Nick, as he swam back to shore.
"The hunters. They've got this military truck, with a machine gun. A Humvee, of sorts." said Nick. "We can't stay here, much longer. C'mon, Clem. We need you up on that bus."
"Just be careful." Clem said, stepping on the pallet.
"Don't worry, I won't you fall." said Nick, moving Clem to the bus.
Clem climbed up, and moved the plank back between the bus, and the container.
"C'mon, Carrots. We can get through here, to get on the bridge." Nick pointed to the open container.
Nick and Judy swam through, and made it into the half-flooded restaurant, climbing up to a second floor where the take-out counter was, and climbed up on the container.
"So, Nick. You go to Bug-Burga, often? Before the pandemic?" Judy asked, as they ducked underneath the hole that the container made in the wall, and crossed the plank.
"Yep, all the time." said Nick.
"Well, what'd ya get?" asked Judy.
"Just a Bug-Burga burger." said Nick. "I really miss it, know that I think about it."
The trio climbed up the window, and down on the floor of the apartment complex.
"Whew. Now, this place must've been fancy." whistled Clem, looking at the decor of the lobby. "You guys ever rented a room in a place like this, before?"
"No, but I planned to, before this all happened." said Judy.
"Not me. This is too rich for my blood." said Nick, looking behind the check-out counter for supplies.
Clem rang the bell on the counter. "Excuse me. I'd love to rent one of your finest apartments on the top floor, please?" Clem joked.
"What're you doing? Roleplaying?" Nick raised an eyebrow.
"Why, yes. You may bring my luggage, upstairs." Clem smiled, not breaking character.
"Heh, you are one weird kid." chuckled Nick.
Judy giggled to herself. "Oh, guys. Look, they have a coffee machine." Judy pointed out. "Oh, man. I miss coffee."
"Make that two, Carrots." said Nick.
"Hey, guys. I think that leads up." Clem pointed to a ledge, leading to a staircase. "If only we had a ladder."
"Ah, here's one." Nick said, grabbing the ladder, and placing it on the wall of the ledge. "Ladies first."
The trio climbed up the ladder, and proceeded up to the second floor, where the elevators were at. There was no way to open them, and the hall to the left was wrecked, so the trio crossed through the open window, and onto a roof of the story-high complex.
"Uh-oh. Get down." Nick ordered, as the muffled sound of voices came to his ears.
The trio ducked under another open window sill, as two mountain lion hunters were conversing in the hallway.
"Alright, this floor looks secure. C'mon, we gotta check the next one." said the lead hunter.
"Check for what, man? I haven't seen a Howler in weeks." said the other hunter.
"That's 'cause we're thorough. We're gonna keep being thorough." said the lead hunter.
"Okay, Carrots, Clem. We're gonna go through this nice, slow, and quiet. We may have to take them all out. Be ready for anything." said Nick. Judy and Clem nodded.
Hopping through the window, the trio crept up to the two lion hunters, and Nick and Judy got them with their shivs. Ducking behind furniture in a main hall, they could see several hunters in several rooms. One by one, Nick and Judy made quick work of the hunters, through the use of Judy's bow, their shivs, or the method of strangling, so they wouldn't alert the other hunters of their presence.
Once the floor was clear, the trio crept up a stairwell to the next floor. Hiding behind a soda machine, Judy took out a red panda hunter, patrolling the main hall, with her bow. The trio took cover behind furniture in the hallway to see two more red panda hunters, patrolling the next main hall. Judy shot at the nearest hunter with her bow, providing a distraction for the other hunter, before taking them out next.
There was just one or two antelope hunters left, patrolling the rooms, but Nick handled the situation. Taking one antelope hunter hostage, Nick shot the other antelope, before shooting his captive, next.
With the coast clear, again, the trio traversed up another flight of stairs, right to another pair of elevators. The elevator on the right had it's door ajar, which Nick summoned all his strength to force them open. There was a ladder in the shaft, leading to an emergency hatch in the roof.
Climbing up, Nick slammed the hatch behind the trio, to prevent from being followed. Sliding across the wall to the other lift in the shaft, Nick jumped onto the lift's roof first, but the lift wobbled under his feet, after that not so soft landing.
"Alright, careful ladies. It's a little unstable." warned Nick.
Judy jumped on first, then Clem. "Alright, Clem. I'll give you a boost, first. Then, Jude. Then, me." said Nick.
Nick got into position, and boosted Clem up to the doorway, but then...
CLANK!
"Oh, shit!" Nick cried, as the lift gave way underneath him and Judy, as they fell down the shaft.
Nick grabbed onto Judy in mid-air, and then splashed into the flooded basement, the water breaking their fall.
"NICK! JUDY!" Clem called from up top.
Nick and Judy surfaced from the water, coughing.
"We're okay, Clem!" called Judy, coughing. "Are you alright?!"
"NO! You two scared the shit out of me!" said Clem. "Hang on! I'm gonna climb down to you, guys!"
"No! Stay up there, where you're safe!" called Nick. "We'll make our way back up to you!"
"Just don't do anything stupid!" Clem called back.
"We'll try." said Nick.
Nick and Judy began swimming through the bottom of the shaft, and further into the basement of the complex. Up ahead, Nick and Judy's path was blocked by a gate. Down below, was a large gap in the floor, leading to the lower floor of the basement. Nick and Judy dived down, swimming through the lower basement, and resurfaced through a hole on the other end of the gate. Nick and Judy began crawling onto the shallow part of the wet floor.
"Uh-oh. Spores." said Nick, as he and Judy threw on their gas masks, and switched on their lights, continuing down the darkened corridor, filled with Night Howlers growing out of the walls and floors, and releasing spores into the air.
"Keep a lookout, Nick. This place could have Savages coming out of the walls, if they could." said Judy.
"Carrots, look. There's a generator in here." Nick pointed to a generator inside the room to their right. "Watch my back. I'm gonna see if it still works."
"That'd awfully make a lot of noise." said Judy.
"True, but this way, we'll be able to see them before they see and hear us." said Nick.
"Good point. Just make it quick, though. I don't like this place." said Judy, pulling out her shotgun.
Nick pulled on the lever a few times, and the generator started up, turning on the lights.
"Ha, ha. Let there be light, again." chuckled Nick.
"Nick, heads up! Stalkers!" Judy warned.
From out of nowhere, several Savage stalkers came running into view, charging at the duo. Nick and Judy waited until they got a little closer in range, and open fired at the infected mammals, bringing them down, one by one.
"Alright, I think that's all of them. Let's go before more show up." said Judy.
Nick and Judy hurried up to the second floor, and towards the door with the exit sign above, but it was locked, a keycard swiper.
"Nick, in that room. Maybe, we can find a key." Judy pointed to a dimly-lit office.
Inside, Nick and Judy searched all over the tables, until Judy found the card, next to the remains of the employee, who worked in the complex. Swiping the card on the machine, the door unlocked, and the duo hurried through the door, slamming it shut. Nick and Judy ran up the stairs, and into another hallway. Now that they were out of the spore-infested area, they took off their gas masks.
"Well, so much for that." said Nick. "We gotta find Clem."
Nick and Judy went into a kitchen area, but ducked behind the wall, when the sound of a weasel hunter, stabbing a ferret Howler, came into the room.
"Nicely done. You bit?" said a second hunter, a wolf.
"Not today. You?" said the weasel hunter.
"Not today. C'mon, we gotta check the rest of this floor." said the wolf hunter.
Nick crept behind the weasel hunter, and strangled him, while Judy did the same to the wolf hunter. The duo worked their way into a diner area, and up a ladder to the next face, when without warning, a cougar hunter kicked Nick in the face, sending both him, Judy, and the ladder falling back down.
The cougar held Nick and Judy face-down in a puddle, going for drowning the pair, but Nick and Judy fought back, whacking the wolf square in the jaw. But, the wolf bounced back, and tried to drown them again, when the wolf was shot right in the face. Nick and Judy got back up, gasping for air, and turned to see Clem, pointing her gun at the the body of the wolf.
"Oh, man. I shot the crap out of that guy, huh?" said Clem.
"Yeah, you did." coughed Nick.
"Ugh, I feel sick." Clem said, sitting down with her head between her legs.
Nick swiped the gun from Clem. "Where did you even get this?" she said.
"I gave it to her. I got it back at Finnick's." admitted Judy.
Nick shook his head. "Why didn't you just hang back like I told you to?" said Nick. "Also, didn't I tell you no?"
"Well, you're glad I didn't, right?" asked Clem.
"I'm glad I didn't get my head blown off by a damn kid." Nick retorted, then turned to Judy. "That's also the last time I leave you alone with her."
"Okay, you know what?! No!" snapped Clem. "How about, 'Hey Clem, I know it wasn't easy, but it was either him or me and Judy. Thanks for saving our asses.' You don't have anything like that for me and Judy, Nick?"
"We gotta get moving." said Nick.
"Lead the way." Clem shook her head.
Judy just sighed, exasperatedly.
Climbing up the stairs, the trio worked their way through the second floor, then back down to the first floor, leading to a large ballroom, littered with fancy tables and chairs.
"Alright, we gotta figure a way up that other second floor. Looks like it'll lead out of here." said Nick.
"Just tell us where to go." Clem rolled her eyes.
"I hate this crap." muttered Nick.
"You're not the only one." Judy whispered, glaring at Nick.
"What was that?" said Nick, facing Judy.
"Nothing." Judy said, turning away.
"Whoa, look at this." Clem whispered, looking at a back-drop, surrounded by umbrella-shaded light bulbs, and a camera.
"That type of back-drop is the kind that mammals use to take pictures." said Nick.
"Yeah, I know what it is." Clem glared.
"Okay, if there's something you and Carrots wanna get off your chest, Clem, I'm all ears." Nick said, easily sensing the tension.
"Ugh, I was trying to disobey you, back there. Neither was Judy, when she secretly gave me the gun." said Clem. "You guys were taking an awfully long time, and I thought maybe you guys were in trouble. Plus, Judy wanted me to prove to you, that I can be responsible, and helpful, and look after myself."
"Well, it don't matter what you or Judy thought. I need you both to listen to me." said Nick, firmly.
"We do, Nick. It's just... Forget it." Judy sighed.
Heading up to the center of a stage, Nick tried to push a piano for them to climb up to the second floor, but it was too heavy.
"I need a hand with this." said Nick.
"You sure you can trust us with this?" Clem said, sarcastically.
"Girls, please." said Nick.
The trio pushed all their weight into moving the piano, and it moved, slamming right into the wall, right above the opening in the railing of the second floor.
"There, how was that?" asked Clem.
"Let's go." Nick shrugged off Clem's question. Clem sighed, shaking her head, again.
The trio climbed up the second floor, into another room, out onto a balcony, and onto a scaffolding. Right next Nick, sitting on a chair, was the skeletal remains of a lion, holding a hunter's rifle, complete with a scope. Nick swiped the rifle, and ducked behind cover with Judy and Clem, when a whole group of hunters came into view, on the street below.
"Alright, Carrots. You and I are gonna go down there, and clear us a path. Clem, you wait here." instructed Nick.
"This is stupid. If you'd let me help, we'd have a better chance-"
"I am." Nick interrupted Clem, handing her the rifle. "Now, you seem to know your way around a gun. You reckon you can handle this?"
"Well, I sorta shot a rifle before." said Clem, taking the rifle. "But, it was at pigeons."
"Pigeons?" asked Judy.
"Yeah, with BB's." said Clem.
"Well, it's the same, basic concept. Here, I'll show you how." Nick instructed, showing Clem the proper way to hold the rifle. "Now, you're gonna want to lean right into that stock, because it'll kick a heck of a lot more than any BB rifle. Now, to reload, pull the latch back and tug it, like that. As soon as you fire, you're gonna want to get another round in there, quick."
"Now, Clem. Listen to me." Nick wore a calm serious expression on his face. "If we get in trouble down there, you make every shot count. Yeah?"
"I got this." Clem nodded, confidently.
"Alright, let's go, Carrots." Nick said to Judy, and crawled to the edge of the scaffolding, but then turned back to the girls. "Also, just so we're clear about that back there... It was either him or me and Judy. So, I'm... Well, you know."
Nick jumped down, not seeing Judy or Clem smile.
"Apology accepted, Slick." said Judy, winking back at Clem, before hopping down after Nick.
"You're welcome. Both of you." smiled Clem, before returning her focus to the group of hunters.
From where Nick and Judy were hiding, they could see the hunters crowding around a hanged horse survivor, with a sign around him that read, 'Thief'.
"Asshole should've known better." smirked a raccoon hunter. "I mean, if you're gonna steal it, you gotta make sure you get away with it. See, if it were me-"
"They're dead! They're all dead!" cried a cheetah hunter, running into view.
"The hell is he yammering about?!" said the raccoon hunter. "Take a breath. Who's dead?"
"The lookout guys, from the highway to the Grand Pangolin Arms." said the cheetah hunter. "Some tourists killed them. All of them!"
"Oh, shit. You talked to the boss?" asked the raccoon hunter.
"Yeah, he says he wants everyone on the lookout." said the cheetah hunter.
"Alright, you heard the mammal. Spread out! Do not let anyone through!" ordered the raccoon hunter, as the group split up into different buildings.
"Alright, Judy. I take the guys on the left, in the Lemmings Brothers bank. You take the guys on the right, in the Bug-Burga. Be careful." said Nick.
"Same goes for you." said Judy, as she and Nick split up.
Nick snuck into the bank, grabbed the raccoon hunter from behind, and strangled him behind a counter, out of sight of the other hunters. Nick crept up to the second hunter, a lion, and drove a shiv into him. The last one, a skunk hunter, he tackled down, and kicked him in the face.
Judy crept into another Bug-Burga restaurant, and hid behind a counter. She could see a grizzly bear hunter walking into a freezer, next door. Following quietly behind, Judy pulled out her bow, she shot an arrow into the bear's head. Sneaking up to the second floor, she didn't find any hunters. She assumed they went over to the other building.
Crossing the plank on the fire escape to the ledge, Judy hopped through the open window, and grabbed the hare hunter. The cheetah hunter spotted her, but she shot him down first with her pistol, then blew the brains out of the hare hunter.
Outside, at least four more hunters heard the gunshots. From up on the scaffolding, on cue, Clem looked through the scope to pick her first target, a tiger hunter, and shot him down.
"Nice work, Kiddo." whispered Nick.
Clem then shot down the next hunter, a polar bear hunter. The remaining hunters, an arctic fox, and a coyote, ran into Nick and Judy's respective buildings, unaware of the surprise that awaited them. Judy had already made it back inside the Bug-Burga by this time, and got the jump on the coyote, taking him out with her shiv. Nick smacked down the arctic fox with a few punches, before blasting his brains out with his revolver.
At last, the coast was clear. "Alright, come on down." Nick called to Clem.
The trio regrouped in the center of the square. "How'd I do?" asked Clem.
Nick handed her back the pistol he took from her, but then took it back. "I just want you to know, you gotta respect it. It's no toy. Only use it to defend yourself. Yeah?" he said, handing it back to her, again.
Clem nodded, confidently, and took the pistol. "I won't let you down with this, either." she said.
"Judy, why don't you switch your bow with the rifle Clem has?" said Clem. "I trust you, Clem, but I think, for now, we should start you off with a bow first, until you get the hang of it."
"Sure." Clem nodded, switching the rifle with the bow and quiver. "I'm a better shot at this thing, anyway."
"Alright, let's go." Nick said, leading the trio out of the square, when he felt Judy smiling at her. "What?"
"You really are a sweet fox." said Judy.
"Don't push your luck, Carrots." Nick smirked.
Clem tried her best to suppress a giggle at the two adults ahead of her. She thought it was cute, but she wasn't gonna admit it out loud. Not yet, at least.
Alright, guys. Another good stopping point on this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it. Next chapter, we'll be introduced to new allies, and the OC left by one of our guest reviewers. Will this new character be friend of foe? That'll have to wait in the next chapter.
I own nothing, except a few OC's. All rights go to original owners. No copyright intended. Thanks. Stay tuned for more of this fanfic.