Ch. 7:
The road had led to an old abandoned hospital by the name of Cliffside Asylum, but upon arrival Nick saw it wasn't abandoned anymore. Two wolves guarded the front gates and even more guarded the front doors.
Hiding behind a security booth Nick and Judy peeked at the two wolves that stood sentry, the fox's mind racing as he tried to figure out how to pass them.
But apparently Judy had a plan, at least-that's what he assumed from the weird hand signals she gave him before sneaking over to the other side of the booth. But as soon as she had reached the other side the wolf nearest them tensed, sniffing the air. Nick watched with gritted teeth as the wolf stepped toward Judy's hiding place, his fur starting to rise with impending aggression.
Nick suddenly lifted his head up and howled. The white wolf stopped, turning to look out at the gray meadows around them before him, he threw his head up and howled. The other wolf hurried over to stop him, "Garry, quit it, you're gonna start a howl!"
"I didn't start it!" Garry argued.
Nick howled again and this time both wolves joined him, a moment later the wolves at the front door howled a chorus as well. Grinning Nick hurried over to a smiling Judy, grabbing her paw and leading her across the bridge, hiding behind the edge of the asylum as the wolves continued to howl.
Judy smiled proudly up at him, "Clever fox."
Nick returned her smile before the two noticed a pipe in the wall where a small stream of water cascaded down.
Following it the two ended up in a dark room where old hospital beds were crowded around the corners of the room. Nick, being a fox, had no problem seeing in the dark but he pulled out his phone and turned the flashlight on for Judy's benefit.
Spotting a door the two slowly walked over, Judy taking a step forward to open the door, her arm shaking as it stretched out to the doorknob. But at the last second she pulled back and hid behind Nick, "You can open it this is your case."
Nick rolled his eyes, "How selfless of you." He opened the door and peeked inside, seeing a hospital bed with computers and x-ray photos but nothing living. Judy had crawled onto his back and peeked over his head, her chin rubbing against his head.
"Coast's clear," Judy said before sliding off his back. Nick rolled his eyes yet again and walked inside, snapping pictures of the hospital equipment with his phone.
"Judy," he turned around, "Stay close." He blinked when he saw something at her feet; he moved the flashlight's beam so she could see as well.
"Claw marks," he breathed.
Judy shuddered, "Huge, huge claw marks, what could have-"
A striped shape with teeth and claws suddenly lunged and Judy shrieked and jumped to Nick, knocking him onto his tail and nearly strangling him when she wrapped her arms around his neck.
The shape was a tiger trapped in a glass cell; it growled and snarled at them, stalking back and forth in its cage.
Nick gently pulled Judy's paws off him and stood up, looking farther into the room, there were more cells as they walked forward he saw they were all full of savage predators. He stopped when he saw a familiar jaguar crouching in a cell's bunk.
"Manchas," he breathed while Judy examined a file holder next to the cell. Nick kept walking and his nose twitched when he looked into a cell and saw a brown and sleek figure.
"Mr. Otterton!" he gasped. Judy hurried over and the two pressed their paws against the glass. The otter snarled and dove under the bed. "Mr. Otterton, my name is Officer Nick Wilde. Your wife sent me to find you, don't worry we're going to get you out of here."
The otter crept out from under the bed, looking at them will coal black eyes.
Nick looked around, "Maybe we could-"
The otter suddenly lunged at the glass, making the two jump back with yelps. "Again?!" Judy looked ready to expire, "Again with the lunging and the snarling I'm so sick of this!"
"Do…do you realize what we've just done," Nick said, counting out the number of animals.
"What?"
"There were fourteen missing mammals plus Manchas," Nick breathed. "And they're all here. Every single one of them…is right here."
A beep startled them, the duo quickly dashing into an empty cell and ducking onto the floor, sides pressed together and breathing shallow.
"Enough!" a voice yelled and Nick realized it was Lionheart's. He peeked up, as did Judy, to see the lion stomping into the room along with a badger in a lab coat. "I don't want excuses, Doctor, I want answers."
"Mayor Lionheart, please," the badger stopped before him, "We're doing everything we can."
Nick quickly held his phone up and started to record the conversation. Judy's nose was twitching against his ear as the mayor spoke, "Really? Cause I got a dozen and a half animals here who've gone off the rails crazy and you can't tell me why. Now I'd call that awfully far from doing everything."
"Sir, it may be time to consider their biology."
The badger's words had Nick's brow furrowing. Their biology? Nick could suddenly fell the cold tin of metal pressing against his snout, keeping his mouth shut tight.
"What?" Lionheart looked equally affronted, "What do you mean their biology?"
"The only animals going savage are the predators," the badger continued. "We cannot keep this a secret we need to come forward."
"Hmm," Lionheart pretended to consider, "Great idea, tell the public. And how do you think they're gonna feel about their mayor, who is a LION? I'll be ruined!"
Nick and Judy exchanged a glance as the badger asked what Chief Bogo had to say.
"Chief Bogo doesn't know," the mayor growled, "And we are going to keep it that way."
All of a sudden Nick's phone started to ring, his mom was calling. Both he and Judy tried to turn it off but too late, Lionheart had heard and the badger was quickly leading him out, calling for security to sweep the area.
The cell door suddenly slammed closed, locking them inside.
"Well this is just great," Judy threw her paws up in the air as she stalked to the back of the cell, red lights blaring over their heads. "I always wanted my grave stone to say 'Died because the phone wasn't on silence'."
But Nick already had a plan in mind, zipping his phone into a plastic evidence bag. "Can you swim?" he asked the rabbit, pocketing the phone.
"What? Yeah, why?"
A few seconds later a group of wolves burst in, guns at the ready, but the fox and bunny were nowhere to be found.
.
Nick and Judy flew out of the sewer pipe screaming at the top of their lungs before falling into the water below.
Judy was the first to surface, spluttering and hysterical she looked around but couldn't see Nick anywhere.
"Fuzz!" she yelled out, "Wilde?" When she saw nothing her panic sky-rocketed, "Nick!?"
The fox burst out of the water, Judy immediately paddling to him and wrapping her arms around his neck, the sudden hug sending them both under for a moment before Nick pulled them back up, spluttering. "We gotta tell Bogo."