CHAPTER 5: THE ARTILLERYMAMMAL

The tunnels below the Burrow were simple and functional. Several caverns branched off from them, each with beds inside, intended to serve as temporary sleeping quarters for our family should we need them. They were lined with small lights and there were also basic washrooms and a makeshift kitchen down here too. If we had to, we could live down here for months. I thought it was a little ironic - the rabbits of ancient times lived in underground burrows. It was only within the last two thousand years that my kind had built their homes above ground rather than below it, and now we were forced back underground - not by predator attack, but by alien invasion.

With the evacuation of Bunnyburrow complete as far as I knew, and the entirety of my own family safe in the tunnels beneath the Hopps home, I went back to thinking about the events of that day. The cylinder's lid dropping, the Martian emerging, the Heat-Ray, the arrival of the Army…

I thought about the loss of all our media and communications. The television, radios, phones, and internet had all gone down, so we were blind and deaf to what was going on outside. I suspected the Martians had done something to jam them, and I wondered just what it was they were building out in the Meadow, beyond their unearthly weapon.

Every so often, the tunnels shook slightly, maybe caused by the impacts of artillery. Other than that, my brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles were all quiet.

My thoughts turned towards the other citizens of Bunnyburrow. Those who could have gotten out by car or by truck had gone. The Greys, Sharla's family, even Deputy Skipson and the Mayor would have all gotten out by that time. I thought of Nick, in Zootopia, likely already aware of what was going on at this point and not able to do a thing about it. I vowed that, as soon as I could, I would find a way to contact him, let him know that I was all right.

We stayed underground for hours, not even daring to go back up to check on what was going on. My phone, now otherwise useless, told me that it was 4:57 in the morning. Sooner or later, I would have to go back up and find out what was going on, whether I wanted to or not.

At 6:52, the periodic rumblings from the Army's artillery had stopped, and an ominous silence fell. The silence was deafening, and the feeling that had been in the pit of my stomach had only gotten stronger. My intuition was telling me that something was horrifically wrong. In any case, I couldn't be sure unless I went back up there and checked.

"Judy?" Mom approached me. "It's gone quiet… Shouldn't somebody go up and see if everything's all right out there?"

"I'll go," I volunteered myself. I didn't want to put my family in more danger. "You stay down here."

Mom gave me a worried look. I wondered if she thought that she might be seeing me for the last time.

"I'll be back," I promised, giving Mom a hug before heading towards the stairs that would take me into the cellar of our house. I opened the doors and proceeded through the cellar, with only the light from my phone to guide me through the darkness. Thankfully, I couldn't feel the air burning, nor could I smell a stronger smoke than before – the Martians and their Heat-Ray hadn't made it this far yet. I made it back up onto the first floor of the house, and it was still there, untouched.

My first instinct was to take a look outside, so I headed straight for the front of the house. I wasn't going to actually set paw out there, though. There should have been nobody left in Bunnyburrow, so there wasn't a reason to check outside. Looking out of one of the windows would do.

Cautiously, I opened a window by the front door and glanced out. I could smell smoke in the air. There were no sounds from the Meadow.

My attention was caught by a rustling sound in the bushes of the front garden. Turning my head downward, I caught sight of a figure moving about.

"Hey! Keep low and keep quiet!" I whispered. The figure stopped moving, and stood shakily on his hind paws, and I could see that it was a young jackrabbit in artillerymammal uniform. He had blue eyes, white fur, with black stripes on his head and the tips of his ears. His nose was twitching like mad. He was covered in dirt, with several visible scratches on his arms and legs and a cut on his forehead which was bleeding.

"Who's there?" he replied in quiet voice, clutching the gun he was holding.

"Are you looking for something?" I asked. "Maybe somewhere to hide?"

"Yeah, that's it," he replied. I thought for a moment. He was the best hope I had of learning what was going on out there.

"Come in," I whispered. I moved to unlock the door, and he stumbled inside. I noticed his jacket was unbuttoned, and up close I could see that he was quite untidy with himself.

"What's happened?" I asked.

"What hasn't?" he answered, waving in despair. "They wiped us out! Just wiped us out!" He repeated again and again. I turned and headed for the kitchen, and he followed me in. I took a tumbler from a cupboard, filled it with water and offered it to him.

"Here, take this," I said. He took it and drained it in one gulp. He then sat down on one of the stools and started weeping. It took a few moments before he could compose himself enough to answer some of my questions. Remembering the first-aid kit that Mom had used yesterday, I took out the antiseptic and began applying it to the wounds I could see, starting with his head. He winced in discomfort.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Private First-Class Jack Savage, ma'am," the jackrabbit replied. "I don't think I need to ask who you are. Judy Hopps. First rabbit cop with the ZPD."

Even to that day, the fact I was the first rabbit cop under Leodore Lionheart's Mammal Inclusion Initiative had a habit of following me around, as did the fact that I had helped save the city from Dawn Bellwether's schemes. I didn't care much for the celebrity status that all afforded even after the years that had passed since, and it definitely wasn't the right time to indulge in it, so I decided to again ask my guest for information about what had been going on out there.

"What happened?" I asked again. "You said they wiped you out."

"They did… we gave them everything we had. They built a machine in the pit… everything we threw at them just glanced off, like it was hitting some sort of force field. And then that dish… incinerated the entire front line. At first, we thought they'd built some sort of armed command centre, but then it got up and started moving. It was some sort of Fighting-Machine, a massive metal thing on three legs, with a pair of claws underneath it and the Heat-Ray dish mounted to the bottom of its body. It marched out of the pit and started picking us up one by one, tossing mammals about like ragdolls, bashing them against the trees and rocks. And then another one joined it. They hit us again with the Heat-Ray… hundreds just… burned to ash within minutes. Our tanks, just… melted, as if they were made of cheap plastic. Last thing I remember before everything going black for a while was the body of Sergeant Neighton falling on me. When I came to, the Fighting-Machines had moved across the Meadow and they were standing guard over a second cylinder… they were busy building more of those titans there. I don't know why I was spared. Maybe the Martians thought everyone was already dead, or maybe they thought that one jackrabbit wasn't worth wasting the… whatever powers their Heat-Rays… I hid underneath poor Neighton's corpse for a while, hoping the Martians wouldn't notice I was still alive, and when I thought I had a chance, I got out of there and made it here."

"Are reinforcements on their way?" I questioned.

"What good would that even do?" Jack half-laughed. "We hit it with everything we had and they walked on, not even a scratch on them."

I moved back to the window, looking outside to take upon the view. Smoke rose from what used to be Horsell Meadow. Far away, I could see three tall, metallic figures – the Fighting-Machines Jack had described. They had giant, spherical bodies, long legs, green eyes, and what looked like a conical hat atop their bodies. Some sort of antenna hung from a middle ring on that hat, and cables trailed from it. Two large claws hung underneath, one either side of the dish that I recognised as the weapon that dispensed the Heat-Ray. A tube was mounted to the right of the Heat-Ray, the purpose of which I did not know at the time. They had to be about fifty metres high. The early morning light glanced off of their exteriors.

"We can't stay here," Jack said. "They'll come this way soon."

I agreed with him, but I couldn't just leave my family to their fate. Maybe they were safe in the tunnels, but I did not want to take that chance. I knew that to the southeast of Bunnyburrow was Enhydraquay, a coastal port that my family could use to escape the mainland, but I wasn't sure if they could make it. They would have to go back above ground, which would put them at risk if the Fighting-Machines got close enough. Maybe they were safer staying here, in the tunnels.

"I need to try and find my way back to Zootopia, if I can," Jack stated. "I have to report to Headquarters… if there's anything left of it, by the time I get back…"

"Why wouldn't there be?" I asked.

"Because while drawing up the battle plan, my superiors projected that at least one of the cylinders that hasn't landed yet is bound for Zootopia."

My blood ran cold in that instant. Nick… he was still there, most likely not even aware of the death that was headed his way. I had no choice: I had to go back there.

I again looked out of the window. The Fighting-Machines had turned towards us and were beginning to stomp their way here. We surely didn't have that much time before they reached us, and regardless of whether there was anybody in these houses or not, I expected that, once they got here, they would raze Bunnyburrow to the ground.

"We have to go, now," I said. I led Jack into the cellar and down into the network of tunnels. I saw Mom and Dad waiting for me, each looking fearful as I returned. I must have been gone for nearly the entire time I told them to wait for me.

"Judy, Honey, you've been gone a while…" Mom said. She noticed I was not alone. "Who's this?"

"Private First-Class Jack Savage, ma'am," Jack introduced himself. "I… was out there, trying to take the Martians down."

"I need to leave here now," I said urgently. "The Army failed. The Martians have built giant tripods, and they're on their way. I have to get back and make sure Nick is alright… and that my friends in Zootopia are safe."

"But… how are you going to get there?" Dad asked. "Surely the trains won't be running, and you can't exactly walk the two hundred and eleven miles to Zootopia!"

"If I can get to Enhydraquay, I can get a boat out to sea, and hopefully to Zootopia from there."

"And then what?" Mom said.

"We can at least raise the alarm before they get to Zootopia themselves," Jack replied. "Even if we can't stop them, we can get Zootopia evacuated." Mom and Dad looked at each other, and I could tell they were both uncertain and afraid, but I knew Jack was telling the truth.

It must have finally sunk in, because Mom moved and hugged me tightly, as if she was afraid she might not see me again.

"I promise, I'll be fine," I tried to reassure her. "I'll come back. Even if they burn Bunnyburrow to ashes, you guys are safe here. Remember what you used to say to me when I was a kit? 'Bunnyburrow isn't just a place, it's the mammals that make it'. We can rebuild the houses if we have to, but they can't burn Bunnyburrow as long as you're all alive."

"Jude…" Dad stepped forward, himself holding back tears. "Take the van. It got you back to Zootopia the last time. You can skip having to get to Enhydraquay, it'll be quicker."

"Thanks, Dad," I replied, with a sad smile on my face.

"We have to go," Jack said, checking his weapon. I waved as I ascended the stairs back up into the basement.

And here we have the Artillerymammal, who in this case is Jack Savage! In an earlier version I was going to use Travis as the Artillerymammal, but the idea did deviate further than I wanted for the analogue, so I went back to the drawing board.

Anyway, please let me know what you think, and I'll update again real soon!