Nicks mind went blank. He had no quips, no humor, no comeback. It dawned on him that they were alone. This wasn't a dream and nothing would be the same again.

"Judy, I.."

"Nick, I am so scared", she interrupted, "this... this is hell and there might not be anything left and we almost died and I don't know what to do now and... and.." Judy began to hyperventilate and tried to choke back the tears that were already running down her cheeks.

"Judy, it..."

"No!" She exclaimed, her words began to flow like a river. "Nick I don't know what is going to happen and I might not get another chance but damn it Nick I love being your friend and I love being your partner and I love our stupid movie nights and your stupid jokes and I love you Nick I love you so much more then I thought I could love anyone and I love how motivated you are and I love you, Nick I love you".

She gasped for air and tried to catch her breath. Nick's jaw hung open, and his skin was covered in goosebumps, making the fur on his arms rise. He had burred any feelings he had for her long ago before they could latch on. He just knew that she would never say the words back, but now here they were, covered in blood in the middle of the apocalypse. The feelings started to come back. His stomach became infested with butterflies and he felt a sense of unexplainable joy rush over him. His eyes swelled and before he knew what happened, he had embraced her in a hug. Her cold tears were now soaked up by his warm neck fur. Her paws nestled into his chest. Nick pulled her back and put his paws on her cheeks. He starred into the deep purple eyes for what seemed like forever, before pulling her in for a kiss.

They pulled back and opened their eyes slowly, hearts beating hard in sync.

"I guess you feel the same way?" Judy asked, almost not expecting a response. The fox, still in shock, nodded slightly, almost embarrassed. A soft smile came over Judy's face, but started to fade. She closed her eyes tight and took a deep breath.

"We don't know if it's safe here." She said, bringing the two back to the reality of the situation. Nick grabbed Judy's paw and gave it a light squeeze.

"What should we do?" Nick asked.

"we should go back", she said with hurt in her voice.

"Back where"?

The city.

The duo was back on the road and headed back towards the hell they had just escaped hours before. The rural country side had fresh produce and water, but was limited in other resources they knew they would need, along with it being so densely packed. The city had about the same population but was much more spread out. Judy drove across familiar road back down the way they came. Judy's mind jumped back and forth from the feelings she felt for Nick, the death of her family, and what the next move would be. Nick just watched out the window. Thinking about how his old friends were doing. He was worried. Not for them, but others that would cross their paths. The friends he had known were ruthless, paranoid, or heartless. In fact, the laws barley could keep them contained, but now with the city in chaos, he feared they would go wild, doing whatever they pleased, like fire in a dry forest. He had a chill go down his spine that radiated down his leg and made his wound flinch. He looked down at his bandaged leg and pressed down, giving him a slight sting.

Judy looked over at Nick messing with his wound. She was worried about him. He was fast but with a bad leg, a single bad step could be the end. She sighed heavily, which got Nicks attention.

"So… I'm Just going to ask this. Can I call you cute now or is that still a no?" He said with fake concern on his face. Judy couldn't help but smile a bit.

"You're a dork", she said shaking her head.

"I need to know if I have to refrain from calling you the cutest bunny ever, or the cutest partner, or the cutest…"

"You're pushing it, Slick." Nick smiled with his tiny victory. Nick flipped the radio on and switched between stations. Nothing but static and the repeating alert.

Nick clicked the radio off and held in a sigh. There was no point in expressing disappointment at a time like this. Nick broke the silence once again,

"So, do you think this is nationwide or contained here?" He asked, trying to strike up conversation.

"Nick, I'm still not even sure I know what is going on. One minute we were drinking too much and now…" Judy paused, not knowing how to finish her thought.

"Judy," Nick started, " I didn't say it earlier, but I love you too." A slight smile came over him. It felt good to say. Judy couldn't help but smile back. In that moment, everything felt just right. They passed a familiar motorcycle, and knew they were almost back.

1:17 the clock read as they entered the city limits. Judy drove slowly, cautiously looking for any signs of, well, anything. A few distant gunshots echoed the tall walls of the buildings, indicating at least someone was still alive. The streets seemed more chaotic then she remembered. Before long, there was too many cars in the way to continue forward. Judy put the car in park and turned it off. She looked over at Nick, who was focused on every piece of trash that moved in the wind, scanning for threats. She patted his paw and opened the door. She reached back and grabbed her pack. They were low on ammunition and high on snack cakes. Nick grabbed his pack and limped slightly from his leg wound. The city was far from quiet. There was sound of crashing cars, mixed in with screams and gunfire just loud enough to be herd, but not loud enough to follow. The duo set off down the street, navigating between the different sized vehicles like a maze of destruction. They needed to conserve ammo so they crept quietly down the sidewalk.

The distant sound of gunfire became slightly louder as they walked deeper into the city. Stumblers took notice of the fresh meat that was presenting itself to them. The duo pressed on regardless, trying to remain calm and not panic. They picked up the pace slightly as a small mob had formed behind them, making sure to stay ahead. They turned down an ally way and sprinted to the other side to get out of sight and to lose their stalkers.

"Left side!", an unfamiliar voice called out just ahead. the pair looked off down the street where it looked like about 20 stumblers or so had gathered around a small bakery. Bullets flew from inside of the shop wildly out into the small crowd.

Judy's face lit up as she raised her gun. Survivors. Hope, she thought. Nick softly grabbed her gun and pulled it down.

"W... what are you doing? We have to help them!" She said in a slight panic. The boarded windows on the shop came crashing down as stumblers began to pour in.

"It's too late", Nick said, "we don't have enough ammo." Screams could be herd only for a moment, but were quickly silenced. The gunshots stopped and the eeriness set in.

"Come on carrots, we need to go" Nick said, starting off in the opposite direction from the now over run bakery.

"We should have tried!" Judy shouted in protest. "We should have helped!" Nick sighed and turned back toward his partner.

"Judy, it was too late. There was too many and it was just not worth the risk".

"How are the lives of mammals not worth the risk?!" Deep down Judy knew it was too late, but the thought of not being able to help went against every fiber in her body. She knew there was nothing she could have done and that scared her more than anything.

"Come on carrots" Nick said softly, "let's go." Nick reached out his paw and clasped it in hers. She hesitated for a moment, but continued.

They walked through the desolate city, and passed countless boarded up windows, that had only been broken down again. They moved swiftly, trying to avoid any attention.

"S... st... stop right there!" a voice cried out from behind. The duo turned around and their gaze was met by the end of a gun held by a thin, shady looking lion. Nick and Judy half hazardly put there paws up.

"Hey buddy" Nick said, "were not those things. Were the good guys".

"I don't care!", the lion yelled, "I... I want your stuff! Give it to me! Now!" he stammered out. The noise grabbed the attention of a lone stumbler, who staggered out of an ally behind the lion. Judy put a paw on her firearm, but stopped as the lion focused his gun on her.

"D... Don't even think about it!" He said, visibly shaking. Judy opened her mouth to speak, but caught Nicks glance of disapproval. She closed her mouth and simply nodded. She slowly started to loosen the strap of her bag.

"N... Nice and easy! I want yo..." A soft groan cut the lion off. He quickly turned around only to be met by a much larger rhino with an open mouth. The lion quickly pulled the gun up but the rhino quickly chomped down on the lion's neck. The lion let out a blood curdling scream and fired his gun in desperation and panic. The bullets grazed the rhinos thick skin, but to no avail. Nick and Judy watched in horror as the blood poured out of the rhinos clenched teeth, burred in the lion's mane. Nick stepped back and grabbed Judy's arm. She couldn't take her eyes off the straggly lion, so desperately trying to fend off the attacker. She walked along with Nick, eyes still locked on the brutal scene. Her head slowly turned forward as they continued down the murderous city.

Every time Judy closed her eyes, she saw that poor lion.

He was just scared. I should have said something. She thought to herself. It gave her an unsettling feeling in her stomach, like what she had done or didn't do was murder. She felt sick.

"Nick? Do you think we made the right decision… to come back here?" She asked quietly. Nick turned his head over to the bunny and turned back.

"I don't really think there are any right or wrong decisions anymore, carrots. I think there is only live or die now. And right now, were alive so, so far so good I guess."

Nick gave a smile but Judy was unsatisfied. She wanted him to just say 'yes, you made the right call'. But she knew better.

"Hey!", a voice called out from a closed gate. Nick and Judy readied their weapons in the direction of the voice.

"Whoa whoa!" The voice pleaded, "Hold on! Don't shoot!" A male deer peaked his head over the gate and waived. "You guys are cops, right?" He called, pointing at their outfits.

Judy lowered her gun, "Yeah", she called back. Some hushed whispering could be herd on the other side, but couldn't be distinguished. Nick was about to call out but stopped when the gate started to roll along the track, opening. A few mammals peered their heads to the sight of new survivors.

"Quick! Come on!" The deer called out. Judy and Nick exchanged looks and walked in.

The gate shut behind them as the familiarized themselves with the surroundings.

A few more than a dozen mammals walked around the inside of what seemed to be a storage unit facility, doing various activities. Nick looked over at an elephant and a tiger boarding up part of the fence while Judy's attention caught another tiger bandaging a fox.

"So… welcome to our little group I guess." The deer said, straightening up. "I'm Rick. Rick grimes." The deer held out his hoof while Judy and Nick exchanged glances.

A doe playfully pushed the deer, "His name is Rex. He just likes that stupid zombie show" She said, rolling her eyes, "I'm Sarah".

"Aww sis! Come on!" Rex pleaded, "If the world is ending, I want to change my name to something better then Rex!"

Nick and Judy watched the two argue awkwardly until Nick gave a soft cough to get the attention back.

"Oh right! Sorry" Sarah said, "It's good to see a few more officers out helping." Judy's ears perked up.

"Other officers?"

"Oh yeah", Rex started, "There was a wolf, a lion, and a cheetah that came a few hours ago, they went out to look for anyone else who needed help." Judy's heart was high for a second, thinking the cheetah could be Clawhouser, but quickly remembered the horrible death of her friend. Sadness started to creep back into her head.

Nick Looked back at rex, "How can we help?"

"Uhh nothing right now I guess. We heard that rescue was coming so we've just been waiting." Nick looked to Judy with a slight smile.

"Hear that carrots? Rescue is coming. Good thing we came back to the city huh?" He said, lightly punching her arm.

"Hey Rex, come help me with this?" A voice called out. The two deer waved and walked towards the office of the complex.

"Just get comfortable!" Rex shouted back at the partners. "Ask around if you want to help with anything if you want!" The two stood at the entrance and looked around. The other mammals looked hurt and upset.

"Nick", Judy said softly, "Rescues not coming."

"I know."