Again, I'm sorry its been a long wait, but this chapter is a little bit long for you, and the next chapter is already half done so should soon follow.
Enjoy!
Finnick had always been curious; it was in his nature. With ears twice the size of his head, it was hard to miss even the slightest of sounds. How could he not be nosey every once in a while? After all, being a part of the fox species, it was a part of his reputation. Like Nick, he knew everything and everyone, because he simply kept an ear open. You had to in a world like Zootopia, where deep down everyone was still out for themselves and their own species. Those recent crimes had said it all. No mammal was safe, predator or prey, so really there was no harm in being a little know it all.
So, naturally, when he heard an absurd amount of crashing and banging coming from his oddly favourable bunny cop's apartment window, both of his ears pricked forward with interest. He knew where she lived, creepy or not. And he also knew that her quarters were almost always quiet, unless she was trying to get a single word into her endlessly populated family.
Finnick's nose twitched. He couldn't smell her fresh berries and carrots smell. However, he could smell Nick, a musky scent of panic and anger. It hit Finnick like a punch in the gut, and he could feel his ears fall back with involuntary nervousness. He was frozen on the pavement, and as his eyes travelled up, he caught the slightest glimpse of a red figure fleeing from the fire escape of the young bunny's home. The crashing only escalated with more violence.
"Nick," Finnick breathed, and suddenly he found himself running and leaping.
As he hastily climbed the metal bars of the fire escape, the chaos became much clearer. He could hear Hopps' frantic, petrified voice screaming for backup, particularly crying out for Nick. He had never heard such fear in her voice before, and to add to the density of her situation, whatever it might be, he could hear crying and screaming in the background. Her voice was crackly and unclear, constantly breaking up through what must have been Nick's radio.
Finnick swung himself onto the windowsill.
Nick, with his snout forced shut a creation of a predator's nightmare, was going insane. Awful growls erupted from his chest, and in his desperate need to be free, he was destroying Hopps' apartment in the process. Claw marks raked the walls, the drawers had been flung around the room, and her mattress more a mess of sheets and springs, her pillows torn apart in a shower of feathers.
Finnick cursed, and just as he hopped inside the small, devastated room, Hopps' hysterical cries died off as the radio gave nothing but white noise, the device thrown against the far corner near the door. Nick's growls grew horrifyingly louder and angrier.
"What the hell did you do, man?!" Finnick shouted, and then wasted no time in leaping onto the back of his wild friend, who was in that moment violently shaking his head from side to side on all four paws.
Finnick could feel every ounce of strength the fox below him possessed, and it was a lot. Every muscle was clenched and fuelled with the rage and panic that Finnick had never felt himself. From the tip of his tail to the drooling tip of his fangs, Nick had never been more animal in his life, and for the briefest of moments in frightened Finnick.
With great difficulty, Finnick managed to free his friend from the problematic straps of the muzzle. He immediately jumped from Nick's back, and at the same time the larger fox flopped onto his side in relief, yet his green eyes remained wide and angry.
"Get up." Finnick snapped. Nick didn't move. "Get up, you great mutt."
"I'm an idiot," Nick panted, exhausted from his rage.
"Yes, I agree, but if you get up you'll be less of one."
"She has Judy. I heard her screaming. I… I woke up and I heard her screaming and I… I lost it."
Finnick kicked Nick in the ribs. "Get up so we can get your god damned rabbit."
Nick still didn't move, and Finnick forced a sigh of irritation. He didn't like sounding soft, it wasn't really his favourite card to play, but sometimes he didn't have an alternative. The clock was ticking.
"Big ears needs you, right now, and you're just lying on the floor of her apartment which you have now demolished. The least you could do right now is get up."
Suddenly, both foxes looked toward the window, each pair of eyes wide in surprise. There, in the gloom, was a stout that looked as frightened as a mouse. Finnick instantly recognised him as Chad, Leo's unlikely friend.
"What?" he demanded impatiently.
"There's an attack happening at Bunnyburrow. Judy's there. She's below ground, and there's… there's a wild panther…"
"How do you know this?" Finnick snapped, his own heart beginning to race. Nick finally began to shift beside him.
"Ffion… I heard her talking on the phone. She's heading there now. Please, you have to help her."
But Nick was already shoving past the stoat and the cat that was looming in the background, jumping and fleeing from the fire escape. Chad nibbled his claws nervously, and Finnick glared ferociously. When he heard Leo mutter for them to leave, Finnick was having none of it.
"No, no way, you're coming with us."
"What?"
"Don't argue. Follow that damn fox to my van and lets sort this whole mess before I rip my eyes out."
If there was one thing rabbits were known for, it was panicking.
That was happening right now. All of her family trapped below ground, bodies pushed together and rippling with the frightened, panting breaths of each rabbit. She could practically hear and feel each racing heart pumped the blood and adrenaline through their veins, including her own. It was so hot, so suffocating, that for a moment Judy forgot about where she was or what was happening, just so she could remember how to breathe.
The banging and scratching from above was deafening. The petrified whimpers and soft, stunned cries of her family huddled behind her were even worse.
"What's happening?"
"Why is he doing this?"
"Can Judy do something? Call the cops?"
Judy's head hurt, and never before had she felt so alone. All of the huddled bodies behind her were relying on her, when in reality she was as frightened and clueless as she was. No one was responding to her on the radio, not even Nick, and there was no way she was going to be able to go up against a panther on her own, no matter how fast or skilled she was. This wasn't a fight she was going to win. This was something that she could only run from, and protect her family in the most cowardly way possible.
Another bang made her jump and tears clouded her eyes, her trembles of fear becoming more and more aggressive.
Tala slipped her paw gently into Judy's. Judy's looked down at the little rabbit beside her, who gazed back with pure understanding. "You're okay," she said, "Just take deep breaths, close your eyes, and you'll do the right thing. We believe in you."
Judy suddenly realised that everyone had fallen silent and were all looking at her, clearly afraid, but understanding nonetheless. Even her grandpa, the most grumpy and awkward rabbit to ever hop across this world, was watching her with nothing but utter pride.
Her family needed her.
With each bang of that door put them more and more at risk.
Judy fought away the tears and the fear with all her might, and for the first time in her life, relied on her natural instincts.
"What is one thing rabbits are good at?" she demanded, mostly to herself, yet she knew she would get a flurry of answers.
"Being scared?"
"Collecting carrots?"
"Digging?"
"Digging." Judy jumped and turned to face her family. "I need diggers. Mom, take dad, grandpa and all of the kids to one of the safe burrows, far away from her." Her parents didn't hesitate and began rounding up the weakest of the family, guiding them deep into the tunnels behind them. "Kelly, I need you, Tim and Tala here with me."
"Tala?" Kelly questioned, "She's too young."
"She has the power in her legs to do what has to be done." Judy argued. Tim, Kelly's husband, stepped forward after handing their daughter over to Bonnie, looking back with great worry. Kelly looked just as upset with the separation. "She'll be okay, you all will."
A moment passed. Several bangs became unsettlingly louder.
"What do we have to do?" Kelly asked, focussing.
Judy eyed the three in front of her, desperately trying to ignore the pang of guilt at bringing Tala into it. But she knew Tala wouldn't be the least bit bothered about helping her in such a desperate situation; her gleaming eyes and twitching legs confirmed it. Tim was a timid rabbit for sure, but he had big paws, which meant longer, thicker claws to rake through the hardened soil that had settled over the years. Kelly had the force in her shoulders to shove through thick mounds of soil and mud. Tala had the strength in her legs to kick away any rocks or boulders that may get in the way. It was perfect.
Judy turned to the left, pressing her paws against the wall. She teased it with her claws, and with little pressure, fragments of earth began to fall away.
"Start digging."
Finnick was driving like a maniac, so much so that Leo and Chad were screaming for him to slow down, but that was fine. Nick was beyond caring at this point. He could feel the bruises forming on his right side each time Finnick took a violent, sharp turn, left and right all the way out of Zootopia and into the suburbs. The screeching skids of the tires deafened his ears, but his eyes never left the far distance roughly in the direction of Bunnyburrow.
"You're all morons, by the way." Finnick snapped as he drove. Nick said nothing, but the pair in the back took the insult to heart.
"Why?" Leo cried, clinging onto the back of Nick's seat for dear life.
"For giving that girl more information than she needed! Now look what's happened!"
"We never meant for this to happen!" Chad insisted. "We were trying to help!"
"Why?" Nick barked. "Who asked you to help?!"
"You're no better, Wilde." Finnick snarled, swerving the van effortlessly onto a dirt road.
"I know."
"No you don't. Those damn instincts got Hopps and her family in danger."
"I know."
"Do you?"
"Why do you even care so much, big ears?" Leo asked with malice.
"Because that rabbit is the one thing Nick got right, and now she might get killed because of him."
Nick let that sink in. He could picture it now, a horde of rabbits trapped below with only God knew what was above trying to get to them. He could see her face, fierce and frightened all at the same time. She must have lost all faith in him by now. He'd let her down so many times, but not like this. She was alone with an entire family relying on her, and she didn't even have her partner for advice. He'd might as well have thrown her in the deep end of a pool and walked away without giving her the advice to kick.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
He couldn't even begin to imagine the fear running through her veins. Judy was strong, he knew that better than anyone, but even she had her limits.
His radio crackled a little bit, and Nick instantly grabbed it from his pocket and pinned it to his ear.
"Di… keep… dig…"
"What is she saying?" Finnick asked, flicking a worried look in Nick's direction.
"Digging…" he murmured to himself, and instantly he understood. "She's digging a tunnel as a diversion."
"How could you possibly know that?" Leo said sarcastically.
Before Nick could answer, a solid two words pushed through the strained signal. "Keep digging."
He met Leo's accusing eyes with satisfaction. "Because I know her."
Finnick chuckled despite everything. "Clever girl."
No amount of fear could get in the way of adrenaline. Everyone knew that it was fear itself that fuelled any action. Four pumping hearts, four pairs of raking, unrelenting claws, and soon an entirely new path below was created. Judy scratched, pushed and shoved against the earth, ignoring the dirt that rained on her face and threatened to blind her. She didn't have time to be blind.
At last, much to her dismay, she heard the door far back finally cave in.
"You three have to start digging right."
"What?"
"Just do it!"
The four of them pushed through the last layer of earth, falling through to a previously created tunnel that most likely belonged to the other Bunnyburrow residents. Whilst the others gathered the bearings, Judy looked left, then right, before she came to a decision. This tunnel was big. Too big. Big enough for a big cat to run through.
"Forget what I said. I need you to do something else; we can apologise to the neighbours later." She directed them to face right, and pointed to the right wall. "Dig a cove around here, and do not move until you get the signal. After that, run back to where we came from and find the others."
"What signal?" Tim asked, brushing dirt out of his eyes.
"You'll know what it is, trust me."
"Judy, what are you going to do?" Kelly asked, grabbing her paws in hers. Judy squeezed them.
"Just trust me." She whispered. "Come on, I'll help you with the cove; we don't have much time."
Judy refused to look at Tala, for her glare was piercing enough. The dug in silence, going deep enough to fit the three of them in and well out of sight. Judy pushed the guilt down deep into the back of her mind, refusing to let it distract her. She had to do the right thing, even if Tala hated the idea. It was for her own good. Her family were the ones that mattered.
Gently she pushed the trio into the gap, and began to push the mound of soil towards them, partially barricading them in. She heard the panther's roar as he struggled through the tunnels, no doubt digging his own way through to accept his size. At this rate, the whole of Bunnyburrow was going to cave in. She prayed that her ancestors had dug this warren deep enough.
"No." Tala growled.
"Don't start,"
"You're not doing this! I won't let you!"
Judy caught Kelly's eye, and the message was enough. Kelly grabbed Tala around the waist, and at the same time, Judy took off running in the opposite direction. Kelly swallowed the cry with her hand, but there was no need.
The panther plunged through the tunnel that they had made, struggling with his talon-like claws through the earth, panting and clearly exhausted. It was a wonder he could even breathe down here.
But he spotted Judy. He was tired no more.
Thank you for reading!