Chapter 2: Still Here
The way north kept getting foggier and foggier, and Nick was getting tired of it.
It was already a lot that the cold was freezing his aching ankles to the point that if he were to see a bed, he would fall asleep on it for days, but this fog had made everything worse. It had been an early morning for him. So early he could see the sunless moon as he got out to ward off the savages getting too close. It didn't help that the party kept him awake until midnight. Not even coffee, his savior in many situations, could make him less tired than he was at that moment.
There was also the fact that a blizzard was coming. It wasn't strong right now, but he could tell it was bound to be a huge one. He scratched his right ear, carefully making sure that his hearing aid stayed on. He remembers when he had to put it on for the first time two years ago. He kept complaining that a 35-year old healthy fox should not have problems hearing, but the doctor had told him that age didn't matter, and that he'd be partially deaf in one ear for the rest of his life. He resigned himself to accept it, thinking it more fortunate than losing his vision. Now at thirty-seven, he didn't really mind. He could still do every task the same way anyone would, and it didn't stop his wife from loving him, which was something Nick wanted to keep. Judy's love was about the only thing keeping him sane.
"You there, old timer?" asked Gideon, trotting side by side with him in his ostrich.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You've been staring at the ground for a pretty long time. Any cool ants down there?"
"Oh, yes. I named one of them Nangi. Too bad they're under one foot of snow right now," he said somberly.
"Yeah, today's patrol hasn't been the best. I give it a five out of ten."
"Since when do you rank our patrols?"
"Since right now. This is a new low. I've never seen fog this thick." It seemed it wasn't just Nick that was suffering the effects of this climate.
"Are you sure we're still going the right way? I would hate to get lost. Judy already said she and Jesse were coming to trade off with us." Thankfully, their radios still worked for them at the checkpoint.
"We've been going in a straight line for quite a while. I don't think we'll get turned around somehow. Let's just keep going."
"I just want to sit down on my porch and drink some hot chocolate," Nick said, fantasizing about a deliciously hot treat.
"Don't you be hoarding that, I'm ah get some of that too."
"Oh, you wish, brother. I paid top dollar for that powdered chocolate."
"You really gonna gatekeep that from me? What kind of brother are you?" Gideon asks.
"The selfish and self-sufficient one," Nick laughs.
"I liked you better when you weren't half-deaf."
"Ah, that reminds me I don't have to keep talking to you." He goes up to the ear that holds the device and turns the dial up to zero, now only able to listen through his left ear.
"Typical of you, choosing a coward's way out."
"Sorry, did you say anything? I think your breath is so stinky even my left ear is failing!"
"Har har."
He turned his dial up again and they kept moving quietly for a while.
Over the course of these past four years, Nick had gained some weight, which provoked teasing from his brother. He couldn't help himself. After eating nothing but dry foods, pills, and stale drinks, the quality food that he had missed so much was back in Bunnyburrow. The fact that he didn't need to fight for his life every day anymore made him less motivated to keep himself fit. That, and the incredible blueberry pies that his mother-in-law cooked for him every so often. They were so addicting they should be considered an official drug.
"Some little birdie told me you got in a fight last night?" Gideon asked.
"That little birdie being your wife?"
"Nah, my ostrich. Of course it was my wife," he jokes.
"Yeah, well, it's a bit of an exaggeration. Let's just say Gerald was saying pretty nasty stuff to Clem."
"Aw, that's awful. That pig better get himself under control or I won't have him at the TB anymore." TB was the abbreviation for The Tipsy Boar. Nick never called it that because it made it sound like a disease.
"I didn't get to do anything though, I just pushed him."
"Really? I thought you would've started swinging at him," said Gideon, perplexed.
"I was going to, but Clem stopped me."
"Was she defending him?"
"No, but she very clearly told me that she didn't need my help and that I should fuck off," said Nick, in a robotic voice.
"Sheesh. You guys are still on those terms, huh?"
"Yup. Can we change the subject now? Like maybe how nosy your wife can be?" he jokes, hiding his true feelings.
"Hey, my wife tells me everything, we have no secrets between each other." Gideon probably didn't mean it, but that statement struck a chord on him.
"Are you implying something with that?" Nick said angrily.
"Whoa, Nick, calm down, sorry. Poor choice of words, didn't mean anything by it."
"Mmhmm, you better not have." Gideon sighed, not wanting to escalate the situation.
The two brothers fared silently for a little while before approaching something darkened in the snow. Nick got his rifle ready.
"Savage hiding in the snow?" asked Gideon.
"Not sure. Let's approach it carefully."
They could only see hooves and the back of the animal. It seemed like it had been there for a long time, its body completely frozen. The good thing about the snow is that it made it difficult for Nighthowler flowers to spread, but it didn't mean that it couldn't stick on the ground. Nick got off his ostrich to inspect the body closer, putting on his gas mask just in case.
He tried turning over the individual with one paw, but it proved too difficult.
"Sunnova bitch is really stuck in there."
"Need a hand?"
"I think I got it. Hurr," with both paws now, he struggled for a moment before finally turning him around, finally able to see his face. It was an antelope, and one he recognized.
"It's Bucky," Nick said, grimly.
"No kidding?"
"No. He went missing a few weeks back after he didn't return from patrolling. Guess this is where he stayed."
"Poor Pronk is going to be heartbroken," said Gideon, looking down in shame.
"Yeah, well it's not like he expected him to be alive by now. A few days out in this cold is enough to kill you."
"Guess so. Should we take the body?"
"No. The body's filled with pollen. We can't risk sending an infected into town. This will be his resting spot." Nick grabs the body by the horns and drags it towards the side, creating a makeshift grave with his shovel.
"Who's gonna pop the news?" Nick asked.
"Whoever smelt it dealt it."
"Figures." Nick had seen and done a fair share of terrible things, but it was never easy for him to give bad news, especially when killing the messenger was much more acceptable in today's world. He wanted there to be no worries by the time he came back, but now there were two things: Clementine's invitation and giving the news to Pronk. He just wouldn't catch a break today.
"Let's keep going, then." He gets on top of his ostrich, ready to continue the run.
Thirty minutes go by, and they spot another one of their locations of interest, letting them know that they were on the right track towards their destination. The place was an old ski resort, complete with many lodges for the tourists who came to visit. Nick didn't know much about them, having only seen them in pictures and on TV, but now there was no way he could enjoy them.
"Should we check around for savages? Maybe the ones who killed poor Bucky are here," said Gideon.
"I don't know. I don't wanna stay around too long with this blizzard coming."
"It'll be quick, man. Come on." He galloped with the ostrich in the direction of the resort. Sighing, Nick followed him.
The lifts and the line that transported them were all but broken, which would make their passage up the mountain easier. Even if they wanted to fix them, the line could be rusted after years of not being used, so no one made that risk. He could see that some of the chairlifts still had skeletal remains of some misfortuned mammals who had the fate of dying there. They got out of their birds, strapping them to a nearby post.
"Man, I would kill to drink one of these," Gideon spots a poster of his favorite beer, Fuxweiser.
"Yuck, your taste in beer is horrible. I much prefer Bun Lite."
"Bun Lite, huh?" he smirks. "Guess it's only natural you prefer rabbit beer now."
"Hey, I liked it perfectly well in my last marriage."
"Yeah but I bet you love it more now." Nick did not respond to that.
Out of the blue, the sound of a door falling was heard and the two foxes looked at where the sound came from. It came from the biggest loft in the whole resort, which also had the check-in office on the ground floor. A panther runner had knocked down the door and was now running towards their direction. Nick swiftly pointed his rifle at the beast and shot him, cleanly killing it with a shot to the head.
"That one of ours?" asked Gideon.
"Don't think so. Must've been trapped in there somehow and then got out."
"HELP!" they heard the shriek of a female mammal inside. Nick recognized the voice instantly.
"Judy?" He ran, jumping over the panther's corpse.
"What the hell?" said Gideon, going inside with him.
What they saw was three runner rabbits and one fox howler trying to enter a room. Due to the rotting corpses of the four savages, it was difficult to make out the scent of the mammal inside that door. He shot two times in succession, knocking down two of the rabbit runners, alerting the other two.
The fox howler screeched as he turned, making Nick's hearing aid hum annoyingly, distracting him from taking a third accurate shot, which led him to miss. When Gideon was about to shoot, the rabbit runner was already on him, knocking him down on the ground.
"Gid!" Nick screamed, trying to shoot at the rabbit currently trying to bite his brother. Gideon defended himself by stuffing the body of the rifle in the savage's mouth, preventing him from getting any closer. To Nick's misfortune, the howler was onto him, unconsciously knocking down his rifle on the floor with one of his arms and successfully pining him on the floor the same as Gideon's.
"What did I do to you, you piece of shit?" He asks rhetorically, struggling to control the strong fox, its body more agile. That's when Nick decided cutting on pie consumption and a few visits to the gym wouldn't do half bad.
He got the revolver out of his holster, successfully shooting at him twice in the stomach, letting go and dropping on his side. Nick quickly turned and shot at his head, blowing bits and pieces all over the floor. Quickly, he looked to the side of his brother, relieved that Gideon had won the battle with the rabbit as well. He successfully got a machete he had in an ankle holster and went crazy on him, also turning his brain into mush.
"You okay, bro?" Nick asked.
"Didn't get bit, that's what matters. You?"
"Same," Nick said, catching his breath. He hurriedly inspected the bodies of all three rabbits, hoping they aren't who he thinks they are. He breathes another sigh of relief.
"Nick? Gideon? Is that you guys?" asked a voice on the other side of what seemed to be the door to the janitor's closet.
"Judy? Yeah it's us. Are you hurt?" He doesn't wait for an answer, instead trying to open the door.
"Hold on, there's a chair on the knob," she says. As she took it out, he heard a loud thud of the chair falling on the floor as she opened the door.
As soon as he saw her he lunged at her with motivation, getting her out of the closet and kneeling to her level, grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Did they hurt you?" he asks softly.
"No, Nick, I'm fine," she says warmly. With this information received, he hugs her tightly, afraid that she might not be there. He marked her shoulder with his scent for good measure, then let go.
"What were you doing here?"
"I…got sidetracked, sorry. I found something and I thought I should investigate it in this area. That's when this group cornered me and I had to hide in the closet."
"What could you possibly have found?" Gideon asked.
"This," she goes back to the closet, retrieving something from the floor. It was a green backpack with a pride pin. It didn't belong to Judy.
"Whose backpack is that?" asked Nick.
"Guess what? It's Bucky's! He's been missing for a while, and I thought I should go find him." With this, his face lowered. He was going to break the news to Judy too.
"Carrots…we found Bucky."
"What? Where?"
"Beneath two feet of dirt now," Gideon sputtered. Judy's ears dropped.
"He died, huh?"
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Nick," she reassured. "Should we bring his body in?"
"We can't do that either. He was infected."
"What? Pronk won't even see his body?" she says tearfully.
"Carrots, trust me. There wasn't much to see either way. It would've hurt him more."
"That's bullshit and you know it! He would want to see his husband's body either way!"
"Maybe, maybe not, but the fact is, we bring an infected corpse into town and if just one person becomes savage then we can say goodbye to our calm life." Nick's voice became slightly louder, but he needed Judy to understand. He puts one paw on her right cheek. "I don't want to destroy this life we've created," he added, now calmer. Judy reached for his paw in understanding.
"What if it was your body? What would you do if I left you there?"
"I'd be dead and lost, then," he said instantly. "There's not much of a choice. Although, if you would please bury me close to a blueberry garden, I wouldn't complain one bit." She laughs at that, relieving the tension between them. She gives him a kiss, one which he returns.
"You done?" Gideon interrupted, ending their kiss sooner than they wanted it to.
"You're such a buzzkill, you know that?"
"Well, it was you a couple of minutes ago who said he wanted to hurry up before the blizzard caught up to us, so yes, I'm a buzzkill."
"Gideon's right, slick. We got more time for that later," she smiled.
"I'll hold you to that, then," he got up, still holding on to one of her shoulders.
"I also got a surprise for you and Clem when we get home."
"Oh? Now I really can't wait to go home."
As they walked out of the building, leaving the corpses and the stench that came with it, Nick became curious about something in particular.
"Carrots, have you checked what's inside Bucky's bag?"
"Yeah. I couldn't find anything of value."
"Can I see it?"
"Nick, I promise you I checked thoroughly."
"Then it wouldn't bother you if I also looked thoroughly." Judy waited for a moment before defeatedly giving him the bag. He opened the zipper to find some expired bubblegum, some books, and a gun without any ammo.
"See? Nothing." Judy insisted.
"Did you check the secret compartment?" He asked.
"What?" she asked.
"Some mammals, including myself, have secret places we hide stuff in, where no one can see them in plain sight. Something like a ripped hole, or inside some food wrappers." As he said this, he felt for the bottom of the bag, feeling a bump.
"Bingo." With a claw, he ripped open the bottom of the bag, finding the contents that it hid. "Voila!"
"What is it?"
"Just a piece of paper. The important thing is what it says."
"Wait, Nick, should you be reading that?" asked Gideon.
"Maybe it's something we absolutely need to know." With his nosy self, he unfolded the paper, giving it a silent read.
"What does it say?" Judy asked. Nick just kept reading, a puzzling expression forming, to then one of sadness. He quietly gives it to her to read.
"It's better if you read it yourself, Carrots." His tone of voice was quiet and distant. Just what could possibly be written there? Without any other thought, she read.
TO PRONK,
It finally happened. I got bit. Multiple times even. My only way of communicating with you is through this letter, and it might never arrive at your hands. I am currently writing this under a store basement, with my hooves cracked and blackened from the cold. Still, my thoughts only belong to you. I don't think you'll survive long without me, but I really want you to. I know you're not a mammal person, but you're still a good mammal deep down. You got yourself some good people there who will be more than happy to be your friends, no matter how loud you might be, hehe. Being loud was our thing, so please don't stop that habit. You can scream at my grave as loud as you want to. Anyway, I only have one piece of paper, which isn't nearly enough to express how much I truly love you. So I'll say it in a few words only you will understand: NO, YOU SHUT UP! I'll miss you, my angel with horns.
WITH LOVE AND GLORIOUS HATEFULNESS,
Bucky
The contents of the letter came hard to Judy, as Nick expected. She covered her mouth with one of her paws, a few loose tears running away from her lacrimal glands.
"This is terrible," she comments.
"What a bad ending to this hopeful love story," Nick adds.
"We need to get this to Pronk," Judy demanded. "It's his only way of moving on from this."
"I agree, Judy. Keep the letter safe."
"Got it." She folds the note once again and puts it in the front pocket of her brown jacket.
"We'll finish this run and get that loud antelope the goodbye he deserves."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," said Gideon.
"Judy, where's your ostrich?" He asked, now noticing the lack of her mount.
"I tied him up on the other side of the resort. I really hope he's okay."
"Alright, get on," he motions her to sit on the back on top of his ostrich. She obliged.
"Ready to go, Gid?"
"Ready."
With this, the three riders ran along the resort to look for Judy's mount. Despite their objective at hand, Nick could not stop thinking about the letter. Such a raw showcase of love in a singular piece of paper that was both sad and hopeful. Nick imagines writing a letter like that if he ever got in that situation, and just like Bucky, he would not have enough space to express how grateful he was to everyone he cared about, especially Clem and Judy. He hopes to one day earn Clem's love back. But for now, he rode.
That letter will be delivered. He'll see to it.
Abby felt betrayed.
"Fuck it."
She descended the snowy mountain, on her way to the outpost. The altitude barely mattered to her anymore.
"I don't give a fuck," she muttered, descending another rock formation. "I'll do the whole thing on my own."
She could never count on anyone. That's how it always was ever since it happened, and that's how she would always be. No one cared about her opinion or her feelings. Not even Owen. Mel hated her guts too, and now she was pregnant to boot.
"He got Mel pregnant," she said to herself, hurtfully. She thought she was over him for a while, but it seemed like her feelings for him were still there, which made it feel more like a betrayal.
He'd moved on so quickly, but she didn't move on at all. She hadn't moved on from anything in the past four years. She was a 21-year old stuck in a 17-year old's body. Owen had helped her as best he could, until one day he decided he didn't want to anymore. She couldn't exactly blame him. She had pushed him away. She had pushed away almost everyone.
A glimmer touched one of her irises softly. It was in the ground, beneath some snow. When she unearthed what it was, she discovered a coin. One of her favorite pastimes as a child was coin collection. This one read "Zootopia 1998", a great antique. Why not, she thought, stuffing it in the front pocket of her jacket. Coin collecting reminded her of her time with…
She shook her head, her thoughts of him leaving her mind. She got even more angry, fueled by the desire to get to the outpost as quickly as possible. She jumped over a downed tree and kept going like nothing. She climbed some high walls and still did not stop. Not even the edge of the cliff kept her from advancing, her vertigo temporarily cured. Through the forest Abby went, passing every obstacle like it was nothing, until…
A steeper hill she didn't see coming made her lose her footing, making her tumble down it and roll around in the snow, which thankfully cushioned her fall, preventing it from becoming anything serious.
"Oof…" she said, catching her breath from the unfortunate slip.
Thank the heavens she did not forget to bring a gun, because right as she turned a corner, there she saw it. A corpse. The snow had taken most of it already. It looked like a raccoon. He was leaning on one of the rocky walls of the mountain, probably dead from hypothermia, so Abby probably didn't need to worry about it turning on her.
"You alive?" she said, also kicking him for good measure, dropping some of the snow that was covering him on the ground.
As soon as she turned, she saw yet another body, of a pig this time. He was leaning on a tree, a gunshot wound visible on his stomach. From what it seemed, those two mammals knew each other, and ended each other. It didn't take long for her to see even more frozen and buried bodies, wondering what had occurred there.
"Poor bastards," she commented.
Without anything else to look at, she kept going on her quest. The woods looked exactly the same no matter how far she went, like it was moving around her preventing her from escaping its labyrinthine shape. When she wondered if she had turned herself around somehow, a new shape showed itself in front of her. It was another high rock formation that she knew would be impossible to climb. With her keen foxy eyes, she noticed a narrow opening in between them, and without thinking if she would fit or not, she went in.
Slowly and carefully, she went through the passage. It was easy for her to move, but she did not want to hurt herself going through them. She couldn't get hurt this early on her mission. After a few seconds, she could see the end of the passage, now quickening her pace. She stopped on her tracks due to something surprising.
"Oh shit!"
The frozen body of a female otter appeared before her, stuck to one of the passage's walls, sending her back a couple of centimeters, and racing her heart to no end. After calming herself for a moment, she moved again, pushing the otter's body in order to pass, albeit with some difficulty. After a moment of forcing, the body gave out and fell with a loud thud, letting Abby out into the forest again.
She only took a few more steps before her next hurdle.
"Ah!" She felt something grabbing her feet. It was below the snow. She tripped, a paw still gripping on her left leg. A weasel runner showed itself, coming out of the snow, as if it was hiding.
"Let go!" She tried kicking him, but its grip was too strong. She quickly changed tactics, instead now trying to get up and get herself away from the runner. To no avail, the runner kept its distance on Abby. While she was now back on her two feet, the runner pushed her against a tree, throwing random but effective throws at her. While Abby tried covering herself, the unpredictability of its attacks were enough to disorient her, and whenever the open hands hit her, it hurt. A lot. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't get the weasel to stop. She managed to push herself out of the tree, now descending through a slope once again, the runner still on top of her. She managed to kick him hard, sending him through a different path of the slope.
Abby was in the air. She wasn't able to think much about it as her back hit against the snowy ground once again, this time much harder. The slope hadn't ended yet, so she bounced out of the ground once again, giving her another nasty hit to her right shoulder once she went down again, the snow finally stopping her inertia.
"Ugh," she articulated, her body now sore and aching. She would not have a moment to rest however, as the weasel she had just been fighting with had fallen a few meters in front of her, now getting up and predatorily running towards her. Enraged, she got up, tired of being the punching bag. As the weasel went for a left blow, Abby managed to dodge it, now preparing her own attack. With her incredibly large paws for vixen standards, she dealt a hard right hook, following it with a left hook. She wasn't going to stop there, now sending a gut punch its way, ending her combo with a massive kick to the face, blowing it into a thousand pieces.
That wasn't the end of them. From atop another rock wall came a female honey badger, having heard the noises of her fight. With rapid agility, the savage mammal was quickly upon her, charging with all her strength. Not wanting to waste any bullets from her pistol, she kept hitting her, careful not to get suddenly bitten by the badger. A barrage of punches was sent the badger's way, culminating with a swift push to the ground with Abby on top of her, sending her two paws down into her face, a final scream coming out of her mouth.
Catching her breath, she kept walking, more slowly this time in case there were other stragglers who desired to taste her fists. The visibility of the forest was becoming more and more blurry, suspecting that a blizzard was coming. To her distaste, another savage animal descended into the arena, this time a female rabbit, followed close behind by a male rabbit. With her same strategy as before, she sent many blows towards the female rabbit with immense force, ending her life quicker than the other two. The next savage rabbit was stronger, and swung hard at her shoulder, slicing it with his claws. She took advantage of the situation and grabbed his extended arm, cutting it clean off with extreme prejudice. With that same arm on her paws, she used it as a blunt object, hitting the rabbit on the head repeatedly, ending his frivolous life.
"This is how we do it in Washington, bitch," she said, dropping the dismembered arm.
"Ah, fuck, my shoulder." She inspected her slash wound. It wasn't too deep, but it would definitely leave a scar. Not that she cared. She grabbed one of the bandages on her backpack and applied it to her wound, now ready to keep on moving.
A few feet further into the forest she found another hint that the woods used to just be a normal town filled with people over 10 years ago. It was a cabin, now almost buried in snow and the entrances covered by trees. Well, not all of them. The back window and garage were open, giving Abby a means to move forward. She climbed atop one of the trash cans, giving her enough height to climb the window to the house. Now inside, she checked for any sign of savages inside the garage and tried to listen for any sounds. Not hearing any, she kept moving, finding some helpful ammo for her gun in the living room.
Now trapped inside the house, she noticed another narrow pathway below the house, beneath the broken floorboards. She sighed, hoping that the house doesn't just fall on her while she's dragging herself through the crawl space. "This is a bad idea, Abby."
The house falling wasn't her biggest problem, but another savage mammal in front of her, which she thankfully dispatched with a gunshot directly to the head. Now outside, she breathed another sigh of relief.
"There's that lookout," she noticed. She was closer to it now, her journey towards it almost ending. She checked the other side of the house for more supplies and then kept moving. Right in front of her, she was able to see more houses, and cautiously walked to it, her gun at the ready. The light of the outpost seemed brighter now.
The next house was fully covered with floorboards except for one small opening, which was easy to breeze through. A fox savage mammal awaited her inside, but would not manage to be much of a nuisance, with Abby quickly choking it from behind. In the basement, there were two more savages. With relative ease, she choked both of them in quick succession.
"That's how you do it," she whispered, wary of other savages who might be close.
"Ugh, I'm so lost."
She climbed a fence, leaving the house behind.
She thought she was done, but the universe wouldn't be so kind to her. She reached another open space, filled with cars of every kind. What was most important was the amount of savages in the area. Abby counted at least four. Swiftly moving in between the cars, she patiently waited for the opportunity to kill each of them one by one. Her bullets were scarce, so she didn't want to start a fight she wouldn't win. One by one, the savages went down by her hand, her path clear to advance.
"Please let that be it. God, the storm is getting bad. Where's the road?" She tried not to freak out, keeping a cool head, and just assessing the situation. She passed through two cars, and finally saw signs of what she wanted.
"Ostrich tracks! Where's the patrol?" she went up to them, seeing them almost fading due to the blizzard, going down towards the outpost. All she could do now was follow those tracks, and maybe, just maybe, she would be able to find him. The mammal who had ruined her life completely.
2 Hours Earlier
The smell of snowdrops was in the air. The soft scent of those droopy flowers enlightened Clem's morning, relaxing her for the difficult day ahead. She had gone far behind from the two girls in the front, who seemed to be getting in a fair amount of banter. She wonders what they're talking about. They are all currently coursing through a small stream, enjoying the view that nature provided for them.
"Having fun there, girls?" Clem asked jestingly.
"Miss me already?" asked Skye, prompting a blush. Why did she need to be so bold like that? In front of Judy no less.
"You wish," she asked, not letting her win that teasing attempt.
"C'mon, slowpoke! This way!" Skye said, quickening her pace a bit, leaving both Judy and Clem behind. Clementine sprinted, catching up to her with Shimmer, with Judy now in the back.
"What were you two talking about?" Clem asked.
"It's a secret," Skye replied.
"It's not about me, is it?"
"Oh, c'mon, Clementine, not everything has to revolve around you," she joked.
"Um, I am worth it to be the subject of every conversation."
"Hahaha, true. But no, seriously, it wasn't about you. She'll definitely tell you though, just wait for it." Skye's comment was incredibly cryptic, and Clementine was incredibly curious, but she needed to incredibly focus on the mission right now. She efficiently changed the subject.
"Do you miss being with him?"
"What, with Jesse?" she asked back, but quickly gave her answer. "Hah, no!"
"You've been together for so long, though. It had to be a bit hard." As she said this, her and Shimmer jumped through a small tree blocking the stream. She was patiently awaiting her response.
"Look, Jesse's great. His parents are really the coolest," she had a slight pause. Clementine knew a 'but' was coming. "But we were just on autopilot." Clementine didn't know what to say. She was feeling so close to the vixen, now talking about more personal things like this instead of just being goofy all the time. Judy followed closely, but didn't join the girls, not wanting to interrupt their talk.
"How come we've never talked about this stuff before?" Clem asked.
"I don't know, it didn't feel… appropriate, I guess?" The vixen paused for a moment, thinking of her next response. "You never talked to me about Kat," she said teasingly. The mention of the girl made Clem a bit uneasy. So she remembered that old relationship.
"Yeah, well…because there really wasn't much to talk about."
"Yow."
"I also got the impression you didn't really like her." Clem never did know why Skye seemed so antagonistic with Kat. Was she actually jealous?
"I don't care about her one way or the other," Skye dismissed. Clem gave a soft laugh.
"Hehe. Okay."
"No, I think she's a talented artist. I've grown to like that tattoo of yours." Skye was talking about the tattoo that Kat, Clem's previous girlfriend, had given her on her arm at the place where she had her savage bite, both to hide it and to make something beautiful about that terrible situation. Kat made a design of ferns that Clem really enjoyed. Both Judy and Nick were against the idea at first, but also grew to like how it looked. Obviously, her fur had stopped growing there, but she didn't care. It was a tribute, a way to always remember that she had survived, and also as a way to remember Angel.
"That's so big of you," Clem replied.
"Aaand I think she wasn't right for you." When that bomb dropped, Clementine did allow herself to blush, Skye also hiding some of her embarrassment. Judy's keen ears picked up on the conversation, even if she did not want to, smiling warmly at the two twitterpated girls.
"That's… an interesting insight," Clem said, her cheeks still warm. This time, Skye had no words to say.
They galloped in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, Judy still following behind them. Clem had never been on this patrol before, so it was all very new to her. The creek trails were beautiful, with no sight of savage mammals (so far) and the land thriving with satisfying flora and fauna, with birds of every type and plants of any size. Despite it all, she always took comfort in knowing that the world wasn't really over, per se. Nature always thrived, no matter the circumstance.
It would only last for a few minutes, as they were already close to their checkpoint, and the place where the girls and Judy would part ways. The place seemed like an old abandoned outpost of some kind, based on the now eroded wired fence and the fuel containers surrounding it. Clem didn't know much about since she hadn't been there before.
"C'mon, girls, we can tie our ostriches here," said Judy, now taking the lead, guiding them towards the garage of the small destroyed building.
"Hey, you wanna see something spectacular?" Asked Skye, already out of her mount.
"You're gonna point at your face, aren't you?" said Clem, giving Judy a chuckle. Skye laughed as well.
"Nothing's that spectacular," she boasted.
"Oh, brother," Clem said, dreading what the arctic vixen would show her.
"C,mon, dummy," she pressed.
A huge hole was on one of the walls, possibly from an explosion in the beginning of the pandemic. She could see more pine trees beyond it.
"There's some supplies in here if you need them, Clem," said Judy, pointing at a half-boarded up room that could be easily walked through. She went in and opened one of the lockers, finding ammo for her rifle. It would come in handy.
"Thanks, Judy. Found some rounds." As she went to follow the girl, Judy stopped her.
"Hey wait a minute. I wanna talk for a sec"
"Judy, I promise you me and Nick are fine, I-"
"It's about Skye this time." Oh shit, she thought.
"Look, there's really nothing going on between us, if that's what you think. She was just a bit tipsy, and she made that mistake." Clem didn't want to call it a mistake, but she wasn't sure if it wasn't one.
"But…you don't want it to be a mistake, right?" It wasn't a question. Judy was sure that's how Clem felt. She sighed. You could never hide anything from Judy. She was a natural-born detective.
"No…" she said silently, not wanting Skye to listen.
"Hey, you know I support you, right? There's nothing wrong with what you're feeling. Skye is a great girl, and I would be delighted to have her as my daughter-in-law."
"Judy, please," Clem said, blushing immensely.
"All I'm saying is, if the opportunity finds itself, you take a leap for it, alright? Don't even think about it. In this world, opportunities like this are stripped short. You should know this more than anyone." She could tell Judy was serious. She was right, this unforgiving world can take everything from you in an instant.
"Clem! What are you doing there? Come here!" Skye was heard through the other room, screaming for the other girl.
"You better go see what she wants," said Judy. Clem hugged her surprisingly.
"Thanks, mom. That's just what I needed to hear." Judy returned the hug, a few tears escaping at her mention of mom. She knew Clem loved her as a mother, but it was hard for her to really call her that besides just her name. She cherished all the rare instances where she got called Mom, and cried every single time.
"Of course, my little sunflower. Now go to her, she's waiting." They left the hug, and nodding, Clementine went towards the direction of Skye's voice, Judy still tearing up. She just wished one day she could do the same with Nick.
On the other side of the wall was Skye, with Clementine now joining her. The door was completely broken, so she had to crawl through an opening below it, hoping the debris wouldn't fall on her.
"What were you doing? I thought you were right behind me."
"Sorry, mom talk."
"Sheesh, what about?"
"It's a secret," she said, echoing the exact same tone Skye had used on her. "What did you want to show me?"
Skye wanted to continue interrogating her about Judy's "Mom talk" but decided to let it go for now.
"It's right up here, come on." She slid through an opening in the wall, which led to the outside. Clem did the same, and took in the view that Skye wanted to show her. She leaned on the railing and admired the breathtaking view. She could see so far away, beyond Bunnyburrow. The mountains were incredible, and the trees surrounding their town were also amazing. In front of Bunnyburrow she could also see the great river they used as energy, which didn't seem as imposing from up close.
"What do you think of this view, huh?" Skye asked, looking at Clementine.
"It's pretty nice," she looked at Skye, also contemplating the beauty of her facial landscape.
"Yeah. This route has its perks." Skye looked at Clementine once again, their eyes now looking at each other longingly. They knew what they both wanted, but couldn't explain it in words at that moment. They looked away, sad that their eyes were not graced with each other.
"Where do we sign in?" Clementine said, as she stopped leaning on the railing. The air was getting tense, so she decided it was time to go. Skye laughed nervously.
"Follow me." Skye goes out of her view, going towards the opening on the wall they had just come from. Fuck, she thought. This moment had sealed it. She thought it was a crush before, but it wasn't the truth. She was irredeemably in love with that vixen. She made a drawing of one of the trees, and followed Skye back into the room.
"Who did you use to do this route with? Jesse?" She asked Skye.
"No. I did it with Yax."
"Ohh right. Ahh Yax. Man, he was funny."
"Oh yeah," Skye agreed. "Judy, we're ready to move on. Were you crying?" She asked worriedly.
"Uh, no no, it was nothing."
"Clementine, you better not have said anything bad to her," she warned her.
"Of course I didn't."
"It's alright, Skye. These are happy tears," Judy said, wiping her eyes once again.
"They better be. Come on, mommy's girl, help me with this," Skye motioned towards a piece of a metal garage door that was covering the way to the second floor.
"You better refrain from calling me that," Clem said, helping her push it out of the way. Now the three of them were crawling to it, reaching a place with a rope that they had to climb in order to reach the next floor.
"Speaking of Yax," Skye began. "He told me how to rewire electronics and stuff. May we all be that sharp at seventy-three."
"Wasn't he the junkie that was always naked?" asked Judy.
"And we loved him for it," said Clementine.
"I will never understand you kids."
"Judy, you're only twenty-nine, you're still one of us," said Skye.
"Oh please. You'd be surprised how eight more years of life makes a difference."
"Do you seriously want to be called old? I gave you a compliment."
"Older means we're still here, right?" Neither Skye nor Clementine had a comeback for that.
Judy took the rope unexpectedly, using two big bounds to cover more distance, reaching the top in only a few seconds.
"Can you youngsters do that?" she dared.
"Ohohoho you're on, oldie. The future is now!" Skye climbed the rope, but instead of jumping it, she climbed it very fast with her superior upper arm strength, reaching it fairly quickly as well. Clementine did the same, but was unfortunately the slowest one, not really caring about their competition. Finally, they reached the door to the main room of operations, where they kept the log of all of the patrols done throughout the year.
"What was this place?" Clem asked.
"Used to be a radio tower," answered Judy.
In the corner of her eye, she noticed something shocking. It was a bong. She had used one a few years ago to smoke some weed, which obviously was also on short supply since the pandemic.
"I'm going to guess this bong belonged to Yax," Clem took it, admiring it.
"It's mine, actually. He gave it to me," Skye said.
"Do you have any on you, by any chance?"
"Ugh, I wish. Yax always had some on him."
"You do realize I'm still here, right?" Judy asked, dumbfounded about the situation.
"Oof, sorry Judy. Your daughter smokes weed, that sucks," Skye teased.
"Hey, I don't care. I just don't want to know about it."
"Got it, we'll keep our mouth shut," said Clementine.
"Oh shit the radio!" Judy screamed.
"What?" said Clementine, not knowing what was wrong.
"Nick is waiting for my call at the first checkpoint. I gotta give him the go ahead to get to the lookout." She went to the radio that was in the room, and began dialing a signal towards the radio in the northwest tower.
"NW2, NW2, we are in the radio tower by the creek, respond." She waited, but no voice came.
"NW2, NW2, we are in the radio tower by the creek, please respond." Once again, no one answered. She was getting worried now. They should've gotten there by now.
"NW2, PLEASE RESPOND IF YOU ARE THERE. OVER!"
"Judy, calm down! Are you sure you dialed the right signal?" asked Clementine, also worried.
"Yes, it's the right one! NW2!"
"JC1, JC1, we are in the northwest checkpoint, over," the voice of Gideon was heard, and Judy could breathe again. She calmed her feelings and became professional once again.
"What's your status, NW2?"
"Encountered some stragglers, JC1. We are okay. Ready to move on whenever you are."
"Got it, NW2. Wait about ten minutes and start moving. That should give me enough time to get ready."
"Got it, JC1. Moving in 10 minutes. Over and Out." With that, the conversation was over.
"Phew. What do you bet it was Nick trying to play a prank on us?" asked Skye.
"If it was, he's sleeping on the porch tonight for giving me a heart attack," said Judy.
"What do the radio codes even mean anyway?" asked Clementine.
"NW means Nick Wilde, but it also means Northwest, which fits for both the name and location whenever he's the one patrolling that area. The number two is just the assigned number of the radio tower. In the case of this one, J means my name, Judy, and C means creek. One is the assigned area number."
"Intricate, but smart."
"Alright, Clem, go sign for us, I'll get ready to meet with them." Judy went to one of the rooms to gather more supplies for her journey, leaving both girls in the main room, next to the logbook they needed to sign. As Clem went over to it, she noticed the names from the different dates of people who had been there, and most of them had Skye and Yax. She also noticed Nick and Gideon had done a patrol here. Without any more snooping, she took the pen that was already on the table and wrote 'Skye/Clementine 3/2 All clear'
"Aaand there."
Having finished the sign-in, she finally saw Judy coming out, ready to begin her trek to the northwest outpost to meet with Nick.
"Wanna cover my six out there?" she asked.
"Sure. We'll be back, Skye." She didn't look but she nodded, making them understand she had listened.
Now back at the garage, Clementine was uneasy. She had this feeling in her gut that she shouldn't let Judy go for some reason. She knew it was inevitable, so she didn't even try to convince her not to go. Nick needed to be relieved of his duties, after all. The quickest way possible.
"Be careful out there," she said, Judy climbing back onto her mount.
"You too, sweetie. Hey, now that you two will be alone for the rest of the way, make sure you listen to what I said, alright?" she winked at her, warranting another blushy expression from the vixen.
"S-sure."
"Alright, then. I'll see you tonight, right?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"It's really important you come, Clem."
"I will, I promise, okay? I wouldn't want to make you sad."
"Yeah, Skye already threatened you for it," she chuckled, once again embarrassing Clementine.
"You're enjoying this way too much." Judy nodded, still laughing. Now more calm, she smiled at her lovingly.
"I love you. See you tonight. Hyah!"
With that, she was gone. She reached out a hand, her voice wanting to tell her not to go, but it never came.
Clementine would heed to her mother's advice. She would confess her feelings, and she would become Skye's girlfriend by the end of the day. It was a necessary leap that she needed to take, and she wasn't going to waste any more time. In her thoughts, she imagined a future where she lived to be seventy-three, just like Yax, with Skye beside her, both of them peacefully living together on a farm. The thought of her getting old had never crossed her mind. It almost felt granted that you would never live past your twenties. But now she had hope. Hope for a better tomorrow.
Older means we're still here, Judy had said. Clementine wanted it. She wanted that future so much.