The Unexpected Journey
Chapter Two - Arrival
Nick hated driving at night, especially in areas like the Meadowlands. No matter that his night vision was superior to his partner, Judy Hopps-Wilde, to whom he had been married for almost a year now.
Nick gave a small smile as Judy danced in her seat as they listened to the latest Gazelle song playing over the cruiser radio. His smile widened a bit as he decided to set his plan in motion.
"Hey Carrots?" He asked.
"That's Sergeant Carrots to you Officer Wilde." Judy smirked.
Nick felt a little giddy knowing he was about to make his little doe very happy. "Would you mind getting the map out of the glove box? There's a turn up ahead that I want to take and I'm a little unsure where it is."
Judy adopted a faux shocked look as she exclaimed facetiously "What? My fox, who always knows where he is, needs a map?"
"Hey! I'm a city fox I'll have you know!" Nick's smile was now a full fledged grin, as it usually was when joking with his wife.
Judy laughed as she looked at Nick out of the corner of her eye as she reached out and opened the glove compartment. Turning her gaze to be able to look for the map, Judy saw a bright red envelope with a purple bow and an orange, carrot shaped tag attached to it sitting atop the stack of papers inside.
Judy's head snapped to look at her fox and said suspiciously "What are you up to Nick?"
Nick just grinned wider as he pulled off the side of the road so he could enjoy every moment of what was about to happen.
"Open it and find out!" Nick said, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice.
Judy waited to open the envelope, not wanting to spoil Nicks enjoyment from seeing her reaction to whatever was hidden inside. Her heart swelled. Nick was always so thoughtful, loving, caring, and compassionate. He had always supported her through everything.
Judy's eyes glistened as she lifted the tag and read what Nick had written there 'To Carrots, from your Sly Fox, Happy 1st anniversary!' She turned to look at her fox, put her paw up to his muzzle, and said "I love you Mr. Wilde!"
Nick grabbed her paw and kissed it and replied "I love you too Mrs. Wilde!" as he looked into Judy's bright purple orbs.
After a long moment of gazing into each others eyes, Nick finally asked, eagerly, "Well? Hurry up and open it!"
Laughing, Judy used the nail of her paw to open a slit in the side of the envelope. Squeezing it slightly she could see several slips of light cardboard. Judy's eyes widened as she realized they looked like concert tickets, but couldn't be sure because of the lack of light.
Dumping the contents of the envelope into the pad of her other paw, she placed the envelope on the center console before picking up the tickets. Judy gasped as she was able to read the print on the tickets from the light of the computer screen attached to the dashboard. 'Reservation for 2 at the Palm Hotel, Sahara Square' along with two tickets to Gazelles concert for the same area and the same dates. Judy's eyes had widened when she saw them. However, she froze in shock when she noticed the words printed in large, bold faced type at the bottom of the tickets – 'Backstage Access'.
Nick watched joyfully as different expressions washed across Judys face. But, after a minute or so of Judy not moving, barely even breathing, he started to get worried.
"Judy?" he asked worriedly. "Judy? Carrots? Honey?"
Gently he reached out and poked his wife in her upper arm.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Judy suddenly squealed, startling Nick and causing him to rear back and cover his ears with his paws before he was suddenly tackled and pressed against the drivers side door by his overly ecstatic wife. True, she had always been much stronger than she looked. Not that he was going to complain.
His muzzle was being peppered with kisses. Judy had a stranglehold around Nick's neck as she continued to kiss him all over his face. "Best" kisses "Husband" more kisses "EVER!" After several more kisses she finally stopped, pulled back, and looked deep into Nick's emerald eyes. Those beautiful eyes she adored, and asked "However did you get backstage passes?"
Nick smiled and said "Well, I may have mentioned your name to Gazelles agent and that we would be in Sahara Square on the same dates as the concert for our first Honeymoon, and he practically insisted."
Judy sat back in her seat and, looking at her fox with a huge grin, said "Sly Fox."
Nick grinned back and, with a full heart, said "Dumb Bunny" while he put the patrol car back in gear and pulled back onto the road.
They had been driving for about ten minutes, both him and Judy enjoying the glow of the others happiness when a soundless flash of bright, white, light lit the area just to the left of the road and about a mile away.
"Gods!" Nick yelped as he slammed on the brakes, unable to see due to the flash, bright spots floating everywhere. Judy was unable to see as well and could feel the police cruiser starting to slide sideways to the road before finally skidding to a stop.
They both sat there for several minutes, breathing hard, while their vision slowly returned.
Nick and Judy looked at each other, not needing words to know that this was something they needed to check out. Nick put the cruiser in reverse, having to apply a bit more power than usual as the front wheels had run off the side of the road. Meanwhile, Judy was on the radio to base. "Z-240 to base, we have a possible suspicious activity just past mile marker 12 on High Road."
"Copy Z-240. Advise when possible." came the voice of Abigail, the Grizzly bear that covered the night shift at dispatch.
"Roger Dispatch" Judy replied as she reached down and turned on the emergency lights.
Nick was able to get the cruiser back on the road and slowly headed in the direction where the flash occurred. After a few minutes Nick noticed the lights showing an unusual vehicle with its headlights still on about a hundred and fifty feet into the grassy area.
"There it is." Nick said unnecessarily as Judy had seen it at the same time. Judy just nodded her head however since they were both a little on edge due to the unusual circumstances.
Nick stopped the cruiser about 100 feet from where the vehicle would have left the road. Both exited and drew their flashlights, swinging the beams back and forth over the road as they slowly walked toward where the accident would have occurred. When ye arrived at the suspect spot they stopped and swept the lights over the entire area.
"No debris." Nick pointed out.
"And I didn't hear any sounds of a crash either, did you?" The question was kind of rhetorical as her hearing was much better than his as his night vision and sense of smell was superior to her own. That was one of the many reasons they made such a great team.
"Nick, there should be tire marks or, at least, evidence of the vehicle leaving the road." Judy pointed out. Nick nodded, agreeing with her. Nick could smell something odd and sniffed, concentrating on what his nose was telling him.
"And I smell something weird. It smells bad, kind of like some type of chemical is burning."
They both turned their flashlights toward the vehicle in question. It looked to be a medium mammal sized vehicle all in black angled slightly away from them, it's headlights illuminating the grass in front of it. Some of the side windows looked a little strange. Attached to the back of the vehicle was a covered trailer of some sort with the words 'U-Haul' on the back and side facing them.
The partners started walking toward the car, their flashlights scanning the area in it's immediate vicinity. The grass came up to Judy's waist while it only went up to Nick's thighs. About a hundred feet from the car Judy suddenly stopped. "Hey Nick?" she asked, an odd note of alarm tinging her voice "Take a look at this."
Nick waked the ten or so fee over to where Judy was and looked at what her flashlight was showing. His eyes widened as he finally saw the tire marks they had been looking for. "Not possible" he whispered. "No gouges in the turf as if it had been dropped, just grass flattened by the weight of the car, like it just appeared right here out of nowhere." It was Judys turn to nod.
Both flashlights swung back to light up the object of this mystery. Neither recognized the make or model of the vehicle. They could tell it was dark green in color and a bit blocky looking.
"Nick, you head around to the passenger side, be careful!"
"Copy that"
Nick moved over next to where the tracks were before jumping over trying to preserve any evidence. Now between the set of tracks, he jumped again. Judy heard a startled yelp followed by a soft 'thud' and then a low groan. Concerned, Judy called out "Nick! Are you alright?"
Judy heard a spitting sound before Nick answered. "Yeah, I'm fine Carrots. The grass just snagged my foot when I jumped over the second set of tire marks and I face plowed into the ground."
Judy hung her head, shaking it. The situation was a bit too tense to laugh, but she would be teasing her fox about it later on. Maybe even gossip about it around the squad room.
"Okay my clumsy fox, let's finish this."
As she closed the distance, her sensitive ears catching a soft putting noise coming from the car. "Nick, I think the engine is still running. I'm hearing a putting noise." Her nose twitched as a shift in the wind brought the chemical smell to her and her nose twitched at the slight burn. She felt bad for Nick since he had to be really feeling the discomfort.
Judy said as she slowly approached the drivers side door. She could see a faint glow from inside. "Nick" she called out "I think the dashboard lights are still on. I can't see anything yet. No movement inside. I'm going to climb up and try to get a better view."
"Be careful Carrots!" Nick cautioned her. He had just gotten her and didn't want to lose her.
Nick shined his light onto the back of the vehicle. "Judy, there's some kind of metal plate on the back of the vehicle with letters and numbers on it. At the top is a word 'Pennsylvania'. Probably a vehicle identifier. There's also some words on the back: Jeep and Wrangler. I'd say that's the make and model but I've never heard of either."
"Neither have I."
Nick moved his light around and noticed a tube sticking out from underneath the vehicle. His nose had gotten pretty numb from the horrible smell coming from the vehicle but it was extremely strong coming from the tube. He grunted in surprise as he realized what he was probably smelling.
"Hey Judy? I think this thing has an internal combustion engine!"
Judy was startled, but believed Nick as he knew more about cars due to his association with Flash. "But Nick, there hasn't been any cars with those kinds of engines for over fifty years!"
"I know"
As they moved forward the noticed the doors were pretty much normal. A step was built into the sides allowing for a medium sized mammal to climb up into the vehicle. Judy climbed up the side of the 'Jeep' and, stretching, was able to grab the handle and push up. It took more effort than what she expected, but she continued pushing until she heard a 'click' and the door swung open slightly.
Moving to the side, Judy pushed the thin metal door to the side and looked into the interior. The dashboard lights faintly illuminated the interior of the passenger compartment. She gasped as she saw the figure slumped over in the drivers seat revealed by the light. Even though practically furless, the figure was obviously mammalian. What little fur the had seemed to be concentrated on the top of their head.
Climbing higher until she was standing on the edge of the passenger compartment, Judy used her flashlight to check the individuals chest. She could see a very slight movement indicating that the person was breathing at least. At least they were alive, just either asleep or unconscious. Her nose could detect no trace of alcohol, but she'd have Nick check just to be sure.
"Sir? Ma'am? Are you okay? You've been involved in an accident. Can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?" Judy asked. The person didn't respond in any way.
"Nick?" She called out, "I have an unconscious medium sized mammal in the drivers seat. Species unknown. No indication of alcohol. They're unresponsive."
There was silence for a moment before the passenger side door was opened to reveal Nick's head looking into the compartment. Even from the limited amount of illumination from the dashboard lights, combined with the bleed over from their flashlights, Judy could see Nicks eyes widen. Judy looked over to Nick and asked him "Can you smell any alcohol?"
Nicks nose was still burning from the fumes of the exhaust. "My nose is burning from the fumes, turn the car off. There's keys sticking out of the steering column. Go ahead and shut off the engine."
Reaching around the steering column, Judy felt along the shaft until she found what she was looking for, the keys. She went to turn the vehicle off but, apparently, it was the wrong direction when a loud, rapid, grinding noise issued form the engine. Both Nick and Judy jumped but the figure in the drivers seat didn't even flinch.
"Clockwise!" Nick barked.
"That was clockwise Nick!" Judy responded. Nicks eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Without even thinking about it, Judy turned the key the opposite direction, the key clicked and the engine went silent.
"Okay," Judy said, "at least we know it's not going to go anywhere for now."
Nick, remembering what Judy had asked him to do, sniffed around the compartment. "I don't smell any alcohol and I've never smelled anything like this mammal before either."
"Let's see if we can find some identification. Nick, check out the glove compartment. I'll check him, her, whichever they are."
"Got it" Nick replied as he figured out how to open the small storage area. He placed his flashlight on the passenger seat which allowed him to use both his hands as he went through the papers he found there. Meanwhile Judy was using her light to check out the unconscious mammal.
"Hey Judy?" Nick asked while reading one of the papers he found. "I found something. Let's see, Last name – Ambrose, first name – Dylan, Middle name – Wade. Eyes – Grey, Hair – Black, City – Cambridge, State – Pennsylvania. That matches the ID plate on the back of the car. Year – 1987, that doesn't sound right, maybe it's a typo? Make – Jeep, Model – Wrangler. Okay. Engine 6 cyl. I'm guessing that means cylinders. The old internal combustion engines used cylinders."
As Nick was reading the information out loud for her Judy noticed something in the mammals back pocket. After a bit of effort, she was able to pull it out. Inside a clear plastic pocket was what appeared to be some type of drivers license.
"Okay, I found some ID. Name, city, state, they all match up. Sex is listed as 'Male'. Well, that answers that. DOB? And some numbers. Wait!" Judy exclaimed before she continued, her words her words expressing her shock. "Issued: 12/08/2019. Expires: 12/08/2023. Nick! Those are dates!"
Nicks shocked face mirrored her own as the implication hit him. "Judy, that's not possible! It's only August 16, 626!"
"True, but it would match up with your 1987 being a date."
"Maybe they use a different calendar where he's from?"
They both froze, staring at each other before slowly looking over at the mammal in question. Judy broke the silence first as she quietly said "Alright, I'm going to call this in. Keep looking for any other information you can find. I'll bring back the stakes and caution tape so we can mark off the area for the CSI people."
"Got it."
Judy worked her way back to the patrol car and keyed the radio "Z-240 to dispatch, vehicle off the road just past mile marker 12 on High Road. Unconscious Medium sized male mammal, species unknown, requesting an ambulance, a wrecker, and CSI on scene."
"Copy 240, ambulance and CSI are en route."
Judy placed the microphone back onto the hook before opening the trunk and removing the caution tape and flags. Getting back to the car, Judy and Nick placed the flags around the area and then wrapped the tape around the flags.
They then took pictures of the entire area and the vehicle until they saw the emergency lights of both the ambulance and the CSI van. Judy, being the ranking officer, went to meet them at the road.
Judy watched as the ambulance pulled in behind her police car and parked, lights still flashing, and two black bears get out. While the bears pulled out a stretcher, Judy briefed them. "We have an unconscious medium sized mammal, male, species unknown in the drivers seat. No apparent injuries. Name on his ID is Dylan Ambrose."
Both bears nodded as one said "Thank you Sergeant Hopps-Wilde. Huge fan by the way."
The Night Howler incident had been 2 years ago and Judy didn't like all the accolades heaped on her then. She just felt like she was doing her job to the best of her abilities. She guided the two paramedics to the vehicle to avoid messing with any possible evidence.
One of the black bears,whose name tag read "Alex", had no trouble leaning in through the open door and check the mammals vitals. "Well," he said, "he appears to be stable at least, but I have no idea what his baseline stats are. We'll transport him to Zootopia General."
He then, with little effort, reached in, unlocked the seat belt holding the patient in place, and then lifted him out as if he didn't weight much at all. Placing him on the stretcher, both bears lifted the mammal and quickly moved him into the ambulance before turning around and putting on the siren, heading back toward the Downtown District.
Judy noted that information as well as their names for her report. The CSI crew were already going over the site, taking their own pictures and sorting through the items within the vehicle.
By the time the wrecker arrived and the CSI crew had bagged up everything that they could from the vehicle, Nick and Judys end of shift had passed hours ago. Judy filled out the paperwork as Nick drove back to the station.
Judy finished the paperwork and turned it in while Nick cleaned the car out and hooked it up to charge. By the time they got to their apartment it was already noon. Both were so thankful that they didn't have a shift tonight as they fell into bed and, with a quick but heartfelt kiss, were asleep within seconds.
A/N: Well, the first major chapter for this story is done. Wow! Over 3500 words! I don't know if all my chapters will be this long. I just want to write each chapter until I've covered what I wanted to. I hope ya'll enjoyed it. Again, constructive criticism is accepted, flaming or trolling is not.
My plan (and you know what they say about plans) is to post my first chapter after I finish writing chapter 3. Then, when I finish chapter 4 post chapter 2. That way I have a buffer in case real life decides to screw with me. I'll be able to post a chapter, hopefully, every 2 weeks or so but, real life, ya know?
Just a few things about this chapter. I researched trying to see what the cars in Zootopia used for power but couldn't find anything. So, being the author of this fic, I decided that, while Earth and Zootopia have similar development, there will be some things different. Where one would be advanced in some areas, the other would be ahead in others. As such, I felt that Zootopia would have advanced electric cars that functioned similar to our own gas powered vehicles. The same goes for their take on "less than lethal" weapons used by law enforcement.
Thanks for reading and feel free to follow and favorite if this story seems your cup of tea. I will try to update as often as possible and having positive reviews will surely inspire me to write more and post more often.
UPDATE: I posted Chapter 1 on the 7th of November but, as of this date, November the 9th, I can't see it on the site. If I look it up under my screen name I find it, but just by browsing – no.
This is the first ever fanfic that I've posted to the site so I'm not sure if that's normal or not so please bear with me.
Thank you!
Speaks with Spirits