Chapter 6: I'll Be Gone
"You should've seen her face, Carrots," said Nick, lying face up on his bed, with Judy by his side, her shift at the lookout tower having finished at midnight. It was now two in the morning. They were cuddling snuggly beside each other, their clothes sprawled all over the floor.
"Was she excited?" Judy asked, caressing the softer and lighter colored fur of his chest.
"I mean, she was skeptical at first, but then she accepted it. I could tell she was really excited about starting. Obviously, I'm happy to do it as well."
"That's my slick."
"How 'bout you?" Nick asked. "Is my bunny excited to learn how to play the guitar?"
"What gives the impression I'm not?"
"Oh, nothing. Just the fact you didn't even ask how it went when you came through the door."
"Oh…I guess I had other interests in mind," said Judy, blushing.
"I could tell," he said, teasing her. She gave him a slight punch in the shoulder, burying her face on the side of his torso. They stayed silently for a while, enjoying the warmth that each of their bodies received from the other. Nick interrupted the silence after a while, with a visible frown on his face.
"I sang to her, just like I said I would. I almost didn't, but it was important that she knew how much she truly meant to me." It was clear that Nick desired to keep talking, so Judy just stayed quiet, patiently waiting for him to speak again. "Ever since we've been to Bunnyburrow, she's been a bit distant with me. There's been this weird aura around us. So, the song was a way for my feelings to come out without it being too awkward."
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Nick. She's probably overwhelmed. I don't think she's ever had this much tranquility in her life. You gotta give her time to get used to this new life. I saw her quite recently and all she did was ask where you were, what you were doing, what you were eating, etc. She still cares about you. Just give her time, alright?"
Judy's words put Nick in a better mood instantly. She always knew what to say to make him feel better.
"Thanks, Judy. I love you." he said, using her real name to emphasize he truly meant it. Judy pushed herself up to his snout, sharing a hungry kiss with him. Their different facial structures gave them a bit of grief at the start of their relationship when it came to kissing, but now it was second nature to them. After a few bites here and there, the kiss was over.
"Oh that reminds me," Nick said, going out of the comfort of his bed, leaving Judy cold and wanting his touch as soon as it left her. "I still haven't sung to you."
"You're gonna do that now? Really? It's two in the morning!"
"So what?"
Nick grabbed his guitar and sat at one edge by the feet of the bed, looking straight at Judy.
"You're not even gonna put some clothes on?" Judy asked, admiring the fox's natural clothesless body.
"Do you want me to?" he asked, giving her a seductive look. Judy channeled her inner Nick and smiled smugly.
"Touché."
"Alright, you ready?" he asked her, prompting a nod from the bunny. "Here it goes, then."
With a strum of the guitar strings, Nicholas Piberius Wilde began to sing.
Present Day
Seaotter
The change of scenery came as a cathartic shock for the three girls. They had been on the road for about ten days now, making ten hour trips per day, only truly stopping when their two ostriches complained or when any of them needed to rest. They traveled without any difficulties, their only hurdle being the distance between Bunnyburrow and Seaotter. Skye had begun shedding her winter fur on the fifth day, her fur now a thinner bluish brown. Both vixens were traveling on Shimmer, while Judy went on her own ostrich, named Glimmer.
The gray rabbit had been going at the lead for the entire journey, insisting they should stay in the back to cover her six. Clem could tell Judy wasn't happy with her, or with Gideon going after the WLF, so she had been receiving the cold shoulder from her. They still talked, but it was reserved to a few words minimum per day. She was sure something else was bothering her, but she couldn't tell what. Most days, she could hear her getting away from their campfire, but never followed her to see what was up. Her face didn't say much either, having perfected the art of poker face thanks to Nick. So, she just resigned herself to do whatever she asked. Judy would tell Clem at some point. At least she hoped she would.
Going through a thick forest filled with green, a color they had missed seeing in trees, Judy suddenly stopped on her tracks, waiting for Skye and Clem to catch up to her. She eyed the girls to her right, waiting for them to be parallel to each other. When they did, Judy looked back towards the road in front.
"Something the matter, Jude?" Asked Skye, holding on to Clem on the back of the ostrich.
"We're on the outskirts of Seaotter now," she said. As Clementine was about to say something, Judy interrupted her. "Before we head there, there are some rules you two will follow and agree with. No buts. Agreed?" She said sternly. Clementine and Skye gulped, both nodding at the same time.
"Number one: stay close to me the entire time. If you wander, I will send you both back and I'll go get Gideon by myself," Clem tried to protest but Skye touched her shoulder, motioning her not to do it.
"Number two: Use your weapons carefully. Only use it when necessary. I know you're not kids and you're no stranger to this, but I want to stress it. Number three and last rule: The second we find Gideon, we are out of here," she looked straight at Clementine. "No unnecessary foxhunt, or any animal hunt for that matter. We are here to get him back and that is IT. Are we clear, Clementine?"
Clem was boiling inside. Judy was giving her a killing look, one that she couldn't refuse. She wanted to keep going after finding Gideon, but there was no way in hell Judy would ever let her. She would find a way to do it. For now, she agreed, nodding at her.
"Okay. Let's go, then."
With nothing else to say, Judy got back in front, aloofly riding through the brown and green environment, leaving Skye and Clem in the back again. They had been openly talking about a different topic before Judy interrupted them.
"Like I was saying," Clem began again. "This hunter was on top of him. Drowning him, and…" she paused, giving a sigh. "Nick couldn't get to his gun."
"Jeez," said Skye. "Were both of you scared?"
"Well…I didn't even think, I just… ran to get his gun and shot the guy in the face."
"How old were you?"
"Sixteen. How old were you when you first killed someone?" She was almost whispering, hoping Judy could not hear what the vixens were talking about.
"Are we talking savage?"
"No. Fully conscious person, nonflowery."
"Eleven." Skye's answer had taken her aback. Clem thought she had it bad, having lost her innocence when it came to killing at such a young age. Turns out her partner had gone through worse.
"Wow. What happened?"
"Guy was coming at my mom. I stabbed him."
"Shhit. You got me beat," Clem joked.
"Yeah. I'm a real badass," she joked back. "So, Jude, how lost are we?" Skye asked the bunny in front, raising her voice so she could hear.
"Uhhh we're not? Trust my directional skills, girls."
"Uhuh."
"Have a little faith, would ya?" she retorted, following Skye's playfulness. The girls continued their talk. Skye decided to pick a serious subject for both Clem and Judy to hear.
"What about those crazy cannibals you said you guys ran into? They came after you once. Maybe these WLFs are connected to them."
"No…It didn't seem like the same group," Clem stated.
"Maybe those black market smugglers back in Zootopia?"
"Skye…" Judy entered their conversation. "Nick crossed a lot of people. He even got in some trouble with Bellwether way back when. There's no point in guessing." Clementine shivered at the mention of Bellwether, her previous caretaker of sorts. She hadn't thought about her in years.
"Okay." Skye agreed with Judy.
"At least until we find out more information," Clem said, triggering an eye twitch in Judy, but she stayed silent.
They kept riding along the deep forest, the song of the many birds posted up on the trees interlocking like a big symphony. The rays of the sun were stronger than ever, paralleling the foggy sunlight of Bunnyburrow.
"Guys. Cars. We're getting close, start keeping an eye out." said Judy. When they turned a corner of trees, there they saw a few abandoned cars, along with a bus stop. If it weren't for the cars there, Clementine could swear it was just normal terrain full of grass. She always marveled at the capabilities of Mother Nature to overtake everything. They advanced along a hill, with many more abandoned cars surrounded by plants, with even trees growing where some of their metal parts used to be. The trees became slightly more numerous as they were on top of the hill. What interested them was what layed at the bottom. It was a freeway, positioned horizontally in front of them.
"Here we go," Clementine commented.
"Guess I was wrong. Turns out Jude does know where she's going!" Skye joked again, making the bunny chuckle.
Trucks were what the group could see the most on the highway, spanning for miles and miles. Judy took the way left, with Skye and Clem following close behind. Since Judy was the one leading them, as well as the one with the map, the girls had no way of knowing where to actually go, probably another one of Judy's schemes to keep both vixens close to her. She was one devil bunny. Learned from the best, Clem thought.
There was something that caught the eye of the group. Right in front of them they could see a painting on one of the pillars of a highway above them. It had a strange image of a fox, with a weird message written on it.
"Feel Her Love?" Judy read the strange message.
"That screams fucked up cult to me. You think it's a 'group orgy' kinda cult or a 'We'll enter your house and spread your blood on the walls' type of cult?"
Mother and daughter winced at what Skye had just blurted out and began looking at her weirdly.
"Too much?" she asked.
"Too much, Snowdrop," said Clem, using her nickname for the first time in a while. She looked back at her and ruffled the brown fur on her head.
"Either way, I hope we do not find whoever wrote this," Judy said, moving on from the painting.
"Me too, orgy or otherwise," Judy sighed at Clem's joke.
"Skye, it's all your fault my daughter is like this. I hope you know that," she said, faking distress.
"Your daughter gets easily influenced, I fear. Not completely my fault."
"Hey!" Clementine said in protest. Judy cackled.
"You guys are too cute."
"Oh yeah, when can I say the C-word too, Jude?" asked Skye.
"Ask me again in about fifteen years."
"Deal!" said Skye. Clem just facepalmed. Sometimes she thought Skye and Judy had more chemistry together than Skye and her. It was both funny and scary to see.
The highway was also filled with vegetation, the asphalt barely visible on the ground. Some of the grass even got to their own toes, reaching heights up to the ostrich's back. A sign above them read "Seaotter", showing they were really close to their destination. There was still no trace of Gideon. They arrived at a small military checkpoint, now also overrun by vegetation. Judy got off the horse to inspect it, but found nothing, except something both Clementine and her would like.
"Hey, found a Pig Hero 6 trading card," she said, handing Clem the card.
"The Furfire Kids! Officially added to my collection." She put it in her backpack. Judy wasn't done giving her gifts, handing her a folded piece of paper. When she unfolded it, it was a tourist map of Seaotter. On one side, the entire area was showcased, but on the other side, she could see the streets of Downtown Seaotter more closely.
"It's not so you go running off, but you deserve to know where we are."
Clementine smiled at her mother's trust and gave her a nod of warmth. With that out of the way, Judy got back on their ostrich and they continued riding.
A few more meters from where they were, the highway was broken, leading to a small slope going downward into a river. It seemed that the highway broke off, leading to a natural river thanks to the damage that it caused. It was thankfully a small river, which made it barely an inconvenience to cross it.
"Sure seems quiet," commented Skye. It had been a while since they heard a sound of mammals, savage or infected alike.
"Yeah…think about how well we hide our lookouts," said Judy.
"Yeah, that's what scares me."
Due to an elevated part of the highway, the group had to go around it, passing through another thick patch of forest underneath one of the elevated streets. Going up a hill, they found their next location to overcome.
"Woah, is that the QZ?" asked Skye. It was a large concrete wall with lookout towers on both sides of it. It was abandoned, however, with some white paint sprayed on the metal gate.
"Yup," confirmed Judy. "Watch the high spots."
Clementine and Skye went up towards the gate while Judy went ahead towards the checkpoint station to check for their best way out.
"WLF, Trespassers Killed On Sight!" Skye read the white paint on the metal gate. "That's friendly," she said ironically.
"At least we know we're in the right place," Clem said, getting off her ostrich, Skye now holding Shimmer's reins. "But where is everyone?"
"They put up that sign, so it means there's a way in."
Clementine pulls up her notebook, drawing the sign and writing "How many of you are there? How many people have you killed?"
She took a glance at the top of the page, which contained passages from a few days ago. In it was a drawing of Nick with his eyes shadowed out aggressively. The passage read: I'm struggling to sleep. Keep seeing Nick with his head…Judy seems to be sick. I think she's catching a cold. I feel calmer with both Skye and Judy sleeping next to me…I need to do something nice for them.
She closed her notebook and continued on the quest to open the gate. She was able to see some skeletons leaning on some cars and a huge mobile military building.
"Looks like there's some cracks up there. In the wall, up above. You see it?" Skye said, pointing towards a broken portion of the wall that was very high up. Clem could see a metal walkway underneath it.
"Yeah, I see it. I'm not sure how we'd get up there though."
Behind the portable building stood another one, this time surrounded by a metal fence. Thanks to an opening of the fence, the three girls were quickly past it.
"Anything good in there, Judy?" asked Clementine.
"Everything's pretty picked over. No supplies or anything."
"Are these cages?" asked Skye, looking over to some small metal rooms to the right of the building.
"Holding cells. Soldiers had them in my old QZ too," said Clementine, looking at the cells with an angry expression, knowing that many mammals suffered a lot in them. She stopped looking at them and moved on.
"Is there any way to get up there, Judy?"
The rabbit analyzed the place, looking for a possible way up. Her eyes shined, finally locating the way forward. With great agility, she hopped on top of the portable building, moving towards the top of the steel cages, managing to hold onto a ladder on the side of the wall. It was all accomplished in a manner of seconds, with both Skye and Clementine open-mouthed in shock at the showcase of skill from the older bunny.
"This way, girls. Follow me!" Judy said, climbing the ladder to the top.
"Follow me, she says. As if it were that easy," Clem muttered, also making her way up. Neither she or Skye could jump quite as high as Judy of course, so they had to resort to using some of the boxes filled with dirt already left around the portable building. Quickly enough, they were at the place of the ladder, which also couldn't be reached by both girls.
"I'll boost you up, come on," Skye said, holding her paws together so that she could climb to the ladder. Clem wasn't amused about leaving Skye by herself.
"But-"
"Just do it, okay? Judy needs your help on the other side of the gate, who knows what's out there?" Skye said, still holding her pose for Clem to climb. The red vixen sighed.
"Alright. Keep an eye out." With no more complaints, Clementine used her partner's paws to get to the yellow ladder, climbing it to the top. There, she could see the thin metal walkway she and Judy had to go through, which was of course very unstable. There were also some jumps involved due to some of the walkway being broken.
"Careful, Clem, some long jumps here," said Judy, jumping through one of the gaps easily. While Clem was bigger in stature, she didn't have the massive bound strength that the bunny possessed, so she carefully jumped through each gap, only reaching the borders with her paws and pushing herself forward. In one section of the walkway, a fallen wired fence fell on top of it, so she and her mother had to crawl below it thanks to there being another walkway that was acting as support for the top one.
Now finally at the gap, Clementine saw her mother leap incredibly high towards a safe spot in front of the gap in the wall, waiting for Clementine to do the same. In the very tight space that she had, she tried getting a running start and gave what looked like the biggest jump of her life.
Which wasn't enough.
With her paws extended fully, she only managed to slightly graze the border of the platform before she started falling to her death. At least that's what would've happened if Judy hadn't reflectively reached for Clem's paw, able to grab it. Clem was heavier, which made it more impressive that Judy was able to hold onto her, and even pull her up enough to allow her to push herself up all the way.
"Clem?!" Skye screamed in distress below them.
"I'm good," she said, catching her breath, with Judy doing the same. "Just almost fucking died," she whispered.
"You okay to keep going, Clem?" Judy asked, and the fox girl nodded, getting up and ready to climb the wall of concrete towards the other side.
When she climbed it, she was greeted with a view of Downtown Seaotter, a skyline of buildings and even some trees that reached far above them. Judy climbed it as well and stood looking at it just the same.
"This brings back some memories…" Judy mentioned. Clem knew what she meant. Five years ago, Nick, Clementine, and Judy were looking at the Capitol where the supposed fireflies would greet them and take Clementine and Judy towards the hospital. Who would've known that their deaths would end up kick-starting this entire journey.
"Oh by the way. Thanks for not making me fall to my certain death back there. You're one strong bun."
"That's what police training since childhood does to ya. And don't mention it, Clementine. Just be more careful next time. I won't be there to catch you every time."
With that foreboding message, Judy started climbing down to the other side.
"Grim," she whispered, joining her below.
They jumped down into a platform that was thankfully not broken, with a door visible to the left. There was still no sight of any enemies.
"Where are these fuckers?" Clem asked herself.
The door to the left had a ladder up towards the lookout tower, as well as a ladder that went down to the floor. She saw Judy climb down the lookout tower already.
"Found this letter. It's clear now that the WLF came here a couple years back and completely overtook Fedra. They killed every one of them and even made the refugees swear loyalty to their cause."
Judy handed her the letter. It was signed by an animal called Adrian Bogo, probably the leader of the militia. She saved it in her backpack.
"Let's get down. Skye's waiting." Without waiting for Judy's confirmation, she started climbing down the ladder. There was a gap between the ground and the ladder similar to how it was at the other side. Clementine jumped down it, grunting from the impact. Judy was about to do the same, until Clementine grabbed her by the waist and put her safely on the ground. Judy huffed, but didn't say anything about it.
Now outside the lookout tower, they found themselves in another locked location they needed to open if they wanted to get to the main door, but as was their luck, it was impossible to open unless powered up. The power source was to the left, and it needed to be plugged into a generator for it to work.
The duo went towards the mobile establishment to the left of the generator to look for the electric outlet. Judy threw a brick at one of the windows, shattering it. Inside, it looked like everything was picked over except for a few supplies and a letter that contained codes for some of the gates in Seaotter. The letter once again addressed Bogo, increasing Clementine's suspicions that it's indeed their leader. The letter also mentioned some points of interest like the Courthouse, the Dome, and…
"Serevena Base…" Clem read in the crumbled up sheet of paper. "That's something."
"Bogo…that name seems familiar to me somehow…" Judy said, thinking about where the name originated.
"Old flame?" Clem teased.
"Heck no. Police training since I was nine, remember?"
"Dang, not even a Firefly sweetheart?"
"Nope. Plain old single."
"Woah, and you decided your first mate should be a fox? That's gutsy, Judy. I respect that." Judy gave a quick snicker and then sighed.
"I guess I got tired of so many years of being lonely. Yeah, I had the Fireflies and all but…I still felt lost. Until you two came along, that is…" Now only me, Clementine thought. A brief moment of silence began between the two girls. Clementine decided to end it the best way she knew how.
"Sorry, Judy, I have to know. How did it work?"
"How did what work?"
"You and Nick…"
"I mean…it wasn't always easy, but…he was there for me at every low and high point ever since we met. I made sure to be by his side and he made sure to be by mi-" she stopped as she saw the red vixen struggling not to laugh. "I'm sorry, what's so funny?"
"I, uhh, hehe, I mean how did you two…?" Clementine was making weird poses with her hands, confusing Judy much more. Until the vixen decided to point her index finger towards the closed fist of her other paw.
"Oh my god, Clementine! I am not going to talk to you about that!" Judy said, covering her blushed face with her long ears, with a very genuinely horrified expression. Clementine secretly enjoyed the torture.
"I mean, with Nick being twice your size and you being a vir-"
"Stop it, stop it!" Judy cried out, getting more and more uncomfortable.
"Okay, I'll stop, I swear." With this message of affirmation, Judy stopped covering her face, but it was still quite flustered.
"Fourth rule: Do not ask me about that again for as long as I live. Deal?" Clem nodded instantly. She had done what she accomplished. She hated seeing Judy in a bad mood. She was glad their dynamic wasn't lost with Nick's passing.
"Let's get this friggin' gate open, shall we?" Clem said, going outside through the other side of the mobile base. As soon as she looked left, she saw the object that contained their freedom.
"Heck yeah, that's a generator!" Clementine went towards it, immediately revving up the engine, making it work in just three tries. "Score. Now I'll just plug it into the power source of that gate."
The generator cord reached easily at the power source, lighting it green. She pressed the big red button, opening the gate for them.
"Magic!" Clementine screamed.
"You dork."
"Clementine, over here!" Skye said, being heard muffled due to the wall standing between them. Both Judy and Clem approached the gate, noticing a slit at the metal gate that could be opened. With some difficulty, Clementine managed to slide it open, seeing Skye's face.
"Hey, you guys okay? What was that sound?"
"We got that gate open. We gotta figure out this one now."
"Okay. We believe in you," said Skye, referring to the ostriches as well.
"Thanks," the red vixen replied.
The opening of the main gate was fairly straightforward. She found the power source for it close to the main building where the button to open the gate was located. With the same cord she used to open the first gate, she plugged in the cord to the power source of the main gate. Breaking another window, she managed to get inside the office with a button and a keyboard with a panel. It read 'Enter Passcode.' She went back to the letter they had found with the many gate codes and rapidly found the one meant for this gate. She quickly pressed '0512', leading to the gate finally opening. Skye began to pass through it with Glimmer and Shimmer.
"Well done!" Skye said to them, as the gate faltered and fell down again with a thunderous sound, startling the entire group.
"Shit!" Clementine said.
"Hey, c'mon. Let's get out of here, that crash was pretty loud," said Skye, leading Glimmer towards Judy. Both girls returned to their ostriches and kept moving, away from the entrance of the QZ at last. They ended up jumping through some of the circular wires put up by the military on their way out.
"Now what?" Skye asked, wanting a report of their next objective.
"We found a note back there with some codes on it," answered Clementine. "Also says there's a WLF safehouse at some place called Serevena Base."
"Serevena…so we find it?"
"Hopefully we find our first WLF. Get them to talk."
"Hopefully that won't be necessary and we find Gideon somewhere close to here. He can't be too far," Judy said, keeping the lead as usual.
The forest vibe from before was gone. Now it was more of an urban jungle, with strips of vegetation covering even the highest windows of the buildings of Seaotter. The grass was much less prominent, the concrete streets more covered with puddles than anything else.
"Oh shit!" Judy said out loud, alarming the girls.
"What?" Both Skye and Clem said in unison.
"All this letter talk reminded me of something. Before everything went down, me and Nick found the corpse and backpack of Bucky."
"Bucky? as in Oryx-Antlerson Bucky?" asked Skye.
"That same one. We found a letter written by him addressed to Pronk, and we couldn't transport his body to town because he was infected. That letter would be the only thing that would bring Pronk closure…"
"Did you give it to him?" asked Clementine.
"No. After what happened, I couldn't find any letter in my belongings. I probably dropped it somewhere." She sighed, stopping the ostrich. "I'm such a goddamn idiot," she began tearing up, causing Clem to frown. She went up to her mother and held one of her paws comfortably.
"It wasn't your fault, Judy. It was probably those WLF bastards that took it. Don't blame yourself for what you couldn't control, alright?"
Judy nodded, interlocking her fingers with Clementine's paw.
"Yeah. You're right. Let's keep going." With that, Judy let go of Clem's paw and kept going through the treacherous path.
Jumping through another wire strip on the floor, Clementine came upon their next location.
"Oh shit, look!" Clementine pointed towards a building beyond another Fedra gate. "Serevena Hotel."
"That's gotta be it," Skye said. Clementine began getting down to inspect it further.
"Now we just gotta find a way past this…"Fuck Fedra" gate?" Skye said, reading the graffiti on the wall.
"Very creative. Gets right to the point. Let's get closer and scope it out." Clementine got closer to the graffiti. "Back in my QZ, if they catch you tagging a wall like this they'd beat the shit out of you, or worse."
"QZs sound like so much fun," Skye commented.
"That's why the Fireflies went so hard on Fedra," said Judy. "They thought they were holding everything together, but in reality, they could be just as bad as the infected."
"Tell me about it. I spent some miserable years in that shitty military school."
"Seems these WLFs agreed with us," said Skye.
"From what we've seen so far, they could be even worse than Fedra," Judy said darkly.
Clementine approached the gate, looking at the power button with a dial to push the gate code.
"Don't you have the code for this gate?" Asked Skye.
"There's a bunch of them on the letter. We need power first though."
Clementine inspected the power source, seeing a generator cord already plugged in. She followed the cord until she got to the generator a few paces behind them. They didn't get lucky a second time. This generator was out of juice.
"Fuck," Clem said. "It's out of gas."
"Goddamnit," muttered the brown vixen. "What do we do now?"
"The note mentioned there was gas in The Courthouse garage and some place called The Dome," Judy said. "Maybe there's still some of it there."
"Alright. Courthouse Garage and The Dome," Skye said. "What's the plan for finding these places, Jude?"
"We ride around, see what we see," Judy answered.
"You think Gideon came through here?" Clem asked.
"I bet he did," Judy said, very sure of herself.
They went on riding towards an open path to the left of the gate, in search of the buildings that still held gas. After a few minutes of riding, the group jumped another wiring in the ground and came upon a very open environment with many buildings, most of them destroyed or unstable. A large empty area of grass and small rivers was also visible, possibly due to the seismic destruction of the military artillery.
"So…where are we?" Asked Skye. The bunny and the red vixen pulled out their respective maps, seeing where they were.
"Pretty sure we're here," Said Judy, pointing towards a specific street on the map.
"Ah, that looks right," Clem said. "I'll mark it up as we go." She pulled out a pen and wrote a dot where they were, as well as marking the Serevena Hotel and the Fuck Fedra gate.
"What the shit happened to this place?" Skye said, looking at the demolished buildings of the area as the girls began to guide their horses towards some of the buildings.
"I'm guessing the military bombed the shit out of it."
"Why would they do that?"
"Well…" Judy joined the conversation. "There are many factors for why they could've done it. Maybe there were rebels, infected…or just plain population control," she said, getting quieter when she said the last part.
"Sweet cheese and crackers, ain't that a bit overkill?" Skye said, horrified.
"Well, it usually worked," Clem replied.
"On the rebels or the infected?"
"Both. Believe me, Skye, you're lucky you didn't grow up in a QZ."
"I'm starting to get that impression…"
"I wonder what would've happened if I'd stayed. I'd probably just become one more asshole soldier."
"No way. I can't see you taking orders from anybody. Except from Jude, at least," she joked.
"Even with me, she's a little troublemaker," said Judy, joining in on the fun.
"Har har. I don't see it as taking orders. I'm just being a good daughter."
"Aww I love it when your soft side comes out," Skye said, hugging Clementine's back tighter, making her blush.
"Stop it, Skye, you're gonna turn her redder than she already is."
"You two are just going to pester me for the entire journey, aren't you?"
"Yup!" They both said at the same time.
"Ugh, great…"
The group came across another broken down bus station. Clementine noticed a bag on the floor and went to check it out. Inside there was a letter from some guy named Aaron addressed to another guy named Colin. The contents of the note were very convenient for them.
"Hey, this note says there's supplies on some bank."
"Might be worth checking out," said Judy. Clementine stored the note away and got back on the ostrich. Soon enough, they discovered the location that the note talked about. It was one of the more destroyed looking buildings. It was leaning, and most of the remaining support relied on some of the debris, which didn't give them much confidence to go inside.
"Should we check it out?" Judy asked.
"Your call."
Judy bit her lower lip. It was dangerous, but there might be gas or anything else useful there. They had to take the risk.
"Stay close," she said, getting off her ostrich and approaching the building on foot. The vixens followed closely behind. They found a gap underneath the rubble and proceeded to go inside. It was a fairly large hole, so they didn't need to struggle to go in. The passage to the bank was linear, but very unsettling, as they saw the water trickle down from the barely held bars of concrete that used to serve as support pillars.
"You know what? This is kinda cool," Skye said. "In a 'holy shit we might get crushed' kinda way."
"You say a lot of disturbing stuff when you're nervous," Clem noted. Her girlfriend could freak her out sometimes.
"Sorry…"
"Relax, Skye," Judy told her. "This place has been like this for years. I don't think it's gonna collapse today…I think."
"Thanks for the confidence, Jude," said Skye sarcastically.
"Anytime."
Now out of the broken down pathway, they could see a hole in front of them that led right to the entrance of the bank. Judy jumped out first, and instantly came in sight of a large group of savage animals by the check-in lounge. She hid behind a door and motioned the girls to come down quietly. Judy could count about six savages, three of them being howlers, and the other three being runners.
"You wanna bail on this?" she asked the two vixens.
"Your call," responded Clementine. She was looking at the group, thinking about what to do.
"Alright, this is what we're gonna do. Skye, go left and try flanking those two howlers by the registers. Me and Clem are gonna be trying to take these guys out over here," she pointed towards the savages on the middle and right side of the room.
"Okay," Skye said, sliding herself to the wall on the left, ready to take care of the savages. Judy pulled out her side arm, signaling Clementine to do the same. Mother and daughter began going towards the group, making sure not to make a sound. All the runners were facing away from them, which would make it easier to get rid of the howlers.
They got to a table in the middle of the room, with a howler beside it. Judy pointed towards it, telling Clementine she'd be the one to take it down. With her rabbit quickness, she pulled out her own dagger, getting on top of the table and jumping at the horse clicker, penetrating the object into his throat, sending him down with a thud. While it alarmed some of the howlers, Judy was long gone, back to her usual spot with Clementine.
On the other side of the room, Skye had already dispatched a fox howler, also slitting its throat with her dagger. With the same agility, she took down the otter runner that was posted at the end of the hall.
Now there were only three savages left, two of them runners and a final howler, which was a tiger. They needed to be careful and kill him stealthily. With the same quiet movement as before, the vixen and bunny traveled towards another table in the room, with the howler close to them. Clementine touched Judy's shoulder, letting her know that she wanted to take the howler this time. With a nod, the bunny let her pass in front of her, going to the tiger with her dagger at the ready.
Unluckily, Clementine didn't see a shard of glass on the floor, stepping on it with force.
"Ouch!" she said involuntarily, deliberately alerting the large tiger, immediately pouncing at her, sending them both to the floor.
"Clementine!" Judy screamed, heading towards the tiger to help her daughter. Clem was currently pushed on the ground, the tiger howler being relentless, trying with all his might to get a taste of her face. Skye wasn't faring well either, the sound of the howler and the screams of Judy alerting the other two runners, who had spotted Skye first. Getting out her rifle, she shot one of them cleanly in the head. The other was rapidly approaching her, making her indecisive about taking a second shot. She ran the opposite way, trying to get a fair distance away from it to take the next shot.
While the tiger was currently pinning the red vixen very forcefully on the floor, Judy was busy trying to get it off, unable to get her dagger, which she had left very stupidly on the floor next to the table. With the sudden fright of the tiger trying to kill Clementine, Judy only thought about getting to the tiger right away. She had him in a tight headlock, trying her mighty best to choke the tiger. Her arms barely reached around the entire neck, making it more difficult. Clementine got tired of it and forgot about her own dagger, using her dull claws to try and penetrate the tiger's rough skin. With a few unsuccessful tries, she succeeded, bathing her face with some of the tiger's blood. Judy just looked at her in surprise. The tiger flopped to the side of them, now dead. Skye had just finished shooting the remaining runner, now going towards their direction.
"Holy shit, Clem! Are you okay?" Skye said, leaning on the ground beside them. Judy helped Clementine sit up but she wasn't speaking. She was shaken by the sudden tiger attack. It also didn't help that she was covered in his blood, clouding her sense of smell with the pungent sanguinal odor.
She looked back towards the tiger's corpse, freezing her even more. A fountain of blood came out of his head. Suddenly, it was no longer the tiger's face, but one she did not want to remember. Not in that state. The puddle of blood on the ground reflected the face of the fox she lost.
"...ementine? Clementine!" She didn't realize her hearing had also turned off, as she began hearing the voice of her mother again, desperately calling for her attention. She snapped back. The face was that of the tiger once again. She opted to now look straight at Judy.
"I'm okay! I'm okay," she blurted out.
"Are you bit? Are you hurt anywhere?" Skye said rapidly, worried for her girlfriend's safety. It wouldn't really matter if she had been bit, but it's not like Skye knew that.
"She's alright, Skye, just a bit shaken," Judy responded. "Let me clean you up, sweetie."
She pulled out a red handkerchief, one that Clementine knew very well. It used to be where Nick saved his blueberries whenever they went on long patrols together. Now, Judy was using it to clean the blood off her face and fur. Thankfully, she didn't have to scrub too hard due to the blood still being fresh. With a little bit of force, her face was pretty much clean. The smell, however, still annoyingly lingered.
"You hurt your foot too," she said, looking at the foot that had stepped on the glass. There was no glass buried in her skin, which was a plus. "I'll bandage it."
Judy pulled out her canteen containing water and poured a few drops to the bloodless area of the handkerchief, which she used to clean the wound. Like the mother she was, all of the motions were careful and methodical, making sure that Clementine was being comfortable. It was in moments like these that Clem was glad to have someone like her for a mother. In all her years, she had never had a mother figure as present or as loving as Judy. She doesn't know what she would've done if she had lost her too. It was bad enough losing Nick. Losing him and Judy…she'd have turned Seaotter backwards by now.
With the same delicate nature, Judy began wrapping her foot with the bandages she got from Bunnyburrow. After going around her foot three times, she snapped the bandage with her teeth, gluing it to the material of the bandage. "Better?" she asked her, smiling at Clementine. The vixen smiled back.
"Yeah. Thanks. I'm good to get up now." With the help of both Skye and Judy, she got back on her two feet.
"Don't scare us like that again, Sunny!" Skye said, giving Clem a punch in the shoulder.
"Okay okay I won't." She dusted herself off, giving them a thumbs up that she was ready to continue.
"Welp…we've reached the bank," said the brown vixen.
"Hopefully there aren't any more of these guys," Judy said, taking her dagger back from the ground.
"What's with the body armor? They don't look like soldiers," said Skye curiously.
"Yeah, I don't know what's up with that either."
The trio got through a door labeled Safe Deposit Lockers, immediately noticing a skeleton of a wolf, also donning body armor, in front of another bag. In it Clementine found a note containing information about how to get inside the huge vault at one of the ends of the room.
"Oh shit. I think these guys were trying to rob a bank," Clem said.
"That explains the body armor, then," reasoned Judy.
Clementine looked at the pump shotgun by the wolf's side and grabbed it, admiring that it still worked.
"Thanks dude," she said.
"Do you even know how to handle that?" Judy asked.
"You just point and shoot, like every weapon we own."
"Okay, then."
Clementine approached the vault at the end of the room, inputting the code written on the note. It opened with a loud hum due to being ten years unopened. They discovered the remains of another animal, this time a fox. Another note was written on the floor, as well as the date of when it was written.
"Heh, they tried robbing the bank on Outbreak day."
"Probably seemed smart at the time," commented Skye. "Man, look at all these bags full of money!"
"If we had all this money in the old world, phew, we'd be rich."
"In the old world, the government would catch you if you spent all the money at once," said Judy, bringing up her police knowledge.
"Don't spoil the fun, Judy."
"It's the truth."
After a few more minutes of searching the vault for something more useful than money, nothing of real necessity was found. Clementine did wind up finding a very ancient ring from the 1500s containing language that she couldn't decipher. She thought it was cool, so she saved it in her backpack.
"Alright, let's get outta here."
"No luck finding gas here," Judy sighed.
"We still have the Courthouse and the Dome left. Let's go."
Going back the way they came, the group didn't think there'd be any more threats, until they found three more savages, all three of them otters. Two of them were howlers.
"Shit!" Skye screamed, as one of the howlers began coming their way. Clementine got out her new pump shotgun and waited for the howler to be in a good distance. As they began to be near arm's length to her she unleashed a shot that blew its head, pushing the otter back in the process.
Skye decided to take her knife and stab the runner through its eye, the tip coming out of the otter's forehead. Judy jumped and kicked the smaller otter howler to the floor, finishing him off with a stomp, ending the fight.
"Ok," Judy huffed. "Now let's get the hell out of here."
"We kick so much ass together," Clem said proudly.
"It'd be great if we didn't have to though," said Skye.
Clementine took the map and crossed out their location, now beginning to make her ascent towards the exit.
"Hey Snowdrop, if you had that much money, what would you buy?"
"Hmm, probably a big farmhouse." Clementine looked at her incredulously.
"But, you live in Bunnyburrow. You can get a farmhouse now."
"Okay, and? What would you get?"
"A space shuttle."
"I second that statement," Judy added.
"Oh right… you two and your space thing."
"What do you mean by that? A space shuttle is a thousand times cooler than a boring farmhouse."
"A farmhouse is more practical," Skye replied.
"I'd have to agree with Skye on this one, Clem, as much as I'd love a space shuttle."
"Ugh."
The building did not fall that day, to the group's luck. They were now back outside, mounting their respective ostriches.
"That place was crazy…" Skye mentioned.
"Welp, I got a shotgun out of it, so…"
"You okay? You weren't doing so good back there."
"I'm alright. That howler just caught me off guard, that's it."
"If you say so."
Going deeper into the city, they could see more decrepit buildings damaged by the bombings. They could also see some Nighthowlers growing in some of the terrain, so they made sure to steer clear of that area. The trio then spotted something curious.
"Check out that tank," Skye said, pointing to a long destroyed tank covered in some vegetation. "I've never seen one of these in action."
"I have," Judy mentioned. "They can do a lot of destruction, especially in the wrong hands."
"Did the fireflies ever have one?" Asked Clementine.
"No. We usually tried not to get the tanks on us. We'd blow those up first."
"Good strategy I guess."
"I'm gonna check it out, hold on," Judy said, jumping on top of it, opening the lid on the top. "Yikes. These guys had a bad day." Judy looked intensely at the bodies.
"What is it?"
"Burnt skeletons," she said drily.
"Oof. Not how I'd wanna go out," said Skye.
"Kinda like those astronauts," Clementine mentioned.
"What are you talking about?" Asked Skye.
"Well, in one of the early moon missions there was an electrical failure that burned up the astronauts in their capsule."
"At least they died for something worthwhile."
"Exactly. These guys were just assholes being killed by other assholes."
With nothing else to inspect, Skye and Clementine got ready to move on, until they saw Judy still looking at the inside of the lid.
"Jude? You okay?" Asked Skye. She didn't respond.
"Judy!" Screamed Clementine, snapping her out successfully.
Closing the lid of the tank, Judy got back to Glimmer. "Coming!"
Clementine was concerned. She obviously knew of Judy's terrible past, and the crime committed against bunnies overall. That tank and those bodies probably did not evoke any good memories. She'll try to talk to her about it later.
With Judy back in the lead, the trio went towards the right, deciding not to enter deep into the city just yet. They traveled to a part of an elevated street that was broken in the middle, with some trucks blocking the way.
"What happened here?" The brown vixen asked.
"Probably an ambush," answered Judy. "See the bullet holes?"
"Must be the handiwork of our WLF friends," Clem said. Skye sighed.
"Can you imagine how those guys felt? One moment you're just doing your job, the next you're getting shot at…"
"Part of the job, I guess."
"I wouldn't call them innocent either," Judy said, in a serious manner. "This was merciful. Believe me."
Skye didn't speak again. Clementine decided to evade the awkwardness by dragging herself below the bullet-riddled truck to inspect what was to the other side. This time there was no angry savage animal waiting for her on the other side, to her luck. All she found was the corpse of an animal with an axe to his side. Clementine picked it up and was surprised that it was still usable.
"Hey guys. I found an axe," she said to the girls on the other side of the truck. "Anyone want it?"
"Finders keepers," said Skye. "I'm good with my knife."
"Same here," Judy answered.
Clementine joined them back, getting on her ostrich.
"Should we check out that wreck over there, Jude?" Asked Skye, pointing towards a mess of trucks by the end of the river.
"Yeah, could be something interesting there, let's go."
They followed the river downhill towards the wreckage, getting their paws wet from the splashes of their ostriches. They arrived at a singular truck held up by some of the ground still visible around the river. It also had bullets visible in its body. Judy tried opening the back by herself but couldn't.
"Little help?" She asked. Clem jumped down from Shimmer and helped her pull the heavy back door of the truck. After a few grunts, the door gave out, showcasing more animal corpses, all skeletons.
"Woah. This guy was an officer," said Clem, looking at a corpse of a wolf donning the usual Fedra gear.
"What's he doing in a ration truck?" Asked Judy.
"Trying to hide, maybe?"
"Unsuccessfully."
"Yeah, sure looks that way."
Clementine saw a note on the back of the container inside the truck and went to get it. Once again, the letter was written by Adrian Bogo. The contents of the writing gave more context to what had happened.
"Oh man. Guy was helping the WLF take over the QZ. I wonder what they promised him."
"Protection, food, shelter, among others. Or if we wanna get gritty, they promised him a quicker death than what Fedra would've done to him."
"Jeez…"
"Is this how the fireflies operated?" Asked Skye.
"Sort of. I can't say we're proud of how we handled some things, but Bellwether always believed in the good of all mammals, no matter the cost. I'm afraid of what these people are capable of. This Bogo guy doesn't give me good vibes."
"Let's hope we don't have to meet him then," prayed Skye.
"Guy sounds like more of a leader than a fighter," Clem said. "He's the kind of guy to send people to do his dirty work."
"Do you think he sent Abby to Bunnyburrow?" Skye asked, tensing Clementine and Judy up.
"...maybe," Judy answered. "But there's no point in trying to find that out. We're only here to get Gideon, remember?
"Yes, ma'am," said Skye.
With no useful supplies to get in the area, the trio finally decided to escape the creepy gaze of the dead corpses in the truck, now going back uphill towards the heart of Downtown Seaotter. As soon as they came in contact with the lively sight of overgrown grass on the concrete giants, Clementine caught an interesting sight.
"Hey, Valiant Music Shop," she said with enthusiasm. "Should we check for supplies?"
Judy Hopps, being a few years older than her daughter, as well as just having a natural mom instinct, knew just why Clementine really wanted to go inside. Music was one of Clem's hobbies for a reason.
"Sure. Let's 'check for supplies'," said Judy, using air quotes. Skye chuckled, aggravating Clementine once again. She didn't say anything, just being happy that she could get inside.
Going in, the sight they got of the shop was obvious, but still disappointing for the poor red vixen.
"Man…" she lamented. "Can you imagine what this place was like when everything was intact? We could just goof off, play some instruments…"
"I bet we could scrounge up enough stuff to get a band," said Skye happily.
"You don't even know how to play anything!"
"I could definitely figure it out. You didn't know how to play guitar until Nick taught you."
"I guess you're right," said Clem, looking through the now empty shelves where instruments used to be. "What would you even play though?"
"I don't know, whatever sounds the funniest."
"I got it. A kazoo would be great for you, heehee."
"What even is that?"
"It's a kids instrument, Skye," said Judy.
"You dick!" Skye said to Clem.
"Judy, you traitor. I can't have you ruining all my jokes like that."
"I'm trying to save this poor girl from your bad and out of taste jests," Judy said, causing Clem to gasp.
"You've just earned yourself a getting after this is done," she threatened. Judy was not afraid.
"I'd like to see you try!"
"Challenge accepted!"
"What have I gotten myself into?" Said Skye, looking weirdly at the two bickering girls.
After the fun banter, the group rose to the second floor with the help of the still intact stairs. More empty shelves surrounded the shop. Clementine was starting to lose hope about seeing the instrument she wanted, until she looked at an unopened guitar bag by a window that was casting an interesting green glow from the overgrown building. Opening the bag, Clementine's eyes shone at the beauty of it. Its beautiful light brown wood-carved body gave her a kiss of warmth. She touched the chords, amazed that they still worked perfectly. Without thinking it twice, she took the guitar and sat by a fallen trash can. At this point, Clem and Judy were also in the room, admiring the guitar with her.
With a few adjustments to the pitch of the guitar, she began to play a familiar melody, one Judy knew well from the many times Nick had taught them.
If I ever were to lose you…
She could only get herself to sing that first note. It was too hurtful to continue.
"What was that?" Asked Skye. Judy didn't want to answer. She would let Clementine say it if she wanted to.
"It was nothing…"
"Well, nothing sure sounds beautiful," said Skye. Clementine thought of something else to play.
"Remember that night at the bonfire?" She asked the brown vixen. Skye nodded.
With another strum of the guitar, Clementine Wilde began to sing.
Talking away. I don't know what I'm to say, I'll say it anyway.
Judy was transported back to that night. That one romantic night where the fox she loved sang to her beautifully, juxtaposing it with him singing while naked. She had doubts about Nick's ability, but never in a million years would she have thought he'd be that good. It was an angelic chorus coming out of his canine mouth. While singing, he slips a wink at her.
Today's another day to find you
Shying away…I'll be coming for your love, okay.
Skye sat on the ground, admiring the beautiful singing and playing of her lover. A melodious hurricane of sound came out of her beautiful face, inundating her with love. Judy saw this and just couldn't get away from that memory with Nick.
Take…On…Meee
Take…Me…Ooon
I'll be gone…in a day or two
Remembering that lyric tied a deep knot within her heart. She remembered Nick singing it so beautifully. Now that memory was tainted by what she now knew. That lyric became true. He is now gone. She will never hear him sing again. When that thought planted itself in her mind, she began to tear up. In her mind, she was still on that bed, looking at his naked husband play a song.
Needless to say…I'm odds and ends but I'll be stumbling away…slowly learning that life is okay
How was it possible? Was this some hustle? Was he using a voice changer somehow? Judy still was absolutely ecstatic and surprised by his singing. It was different from the actual song, but it carried so much more weight. The weight he had been carrying, all spilled out for her to see. He wasn't just singing. This was Nick's way of opening up. His way of showing her his true self. She fell more in love with him that day. She thought that would be impossible.
Say after me…It's no better to be safe than sorry…
Take…On…Me
Time itself blended. Judy was back with Skye and Clementine, but she could see Nick right beside Clementine, joining her in duo form. Her brain was kind enough to add clothes on him. They both sang to their two lovers in perfect solo fashion, while also sounding amazing as a duo. It brought more tears out of her eyes.
Take…Me…On
Nick was looking at her and at Clem, smiling at both of them. His guitar sounded beautiful, but his voice was magnificent. She felt herself tremble just imagining a world where Clementine and Nick could both sing together again like this.
I'll…Beeee….Goooone
In a day or two
Their singing meshed incredibly, ethereally calling out into the cosmos, making her entire body vibrate with goosebumps. She hadn't stopped crying either. She didn't want the song to end. She wanted to keep hearing Nick singing forever. She wanted to hear his voice again and again and again. She wanted him back.
Then she realized why that couldn't happen. The name of Nick's murderer appeared on her mind like a parasite. Abby. The more she reminded herself of it, the more she desired to go after her. She tried to remind herself time and time again that this mission was just to get Gideon, but the thought of revenge never left her mind. It was just so unforgivable. She kept having nightmares about that place. That group. Those screams. Those sickening pings from the golf club. That sickening act had ended her chances of being truly happy. She had to be strong. For Clementine, she had to be strong.
"Was it that bad?" He asked, putting the guitar back in its usual spot. Judy still had a faraway look. "Carrots?"
"Huh?" She snapped out of it. "Did you ask me something?" Nick chuckled.
"I asked you if it was that bad. You spaced out on me."
"What? No, not at all, just…I'm still processing it."
"What, that your fox knows how to sing?"
"I mean…yeah. I mostly thought you were joking when you said you wanted to be a singer," she said honestly.
"I wouldn't have sung for you if I was bad, Fluff."
"I didn't say you'd be bad, I just…wow."
Nick nodded with satisfaction. "I'm glad you liked it."
He proceeded to lay back on the bed, snuggling comfortably under the bedsheets with her, closing his eyes. He was in the process of falling asleep until…
"Nick?"
"Hmm?"
"Wanna know something funny?"
"Shoot."
"You do know that the people in the music video for that song broke up, right?"
Nick raised his eyes in surprise, making Judy snicker.
"I…didn't."
"I imagined," she said smugly. Nick still had a scared expression. "Don't worry, you dork. I know what you meant when you sang to me."
Nick sighed in relief. "Phew."
"It just had me thinking-"
"Oh no."
"Relax, slick," she caressed the paw that was hugging her waist, reassuring him. "It just had me thinking about how much you really changed my life for the better. I don't know what I'd be doing."
"Oh yeah, you'd be so miserable."
"Don't push it," she said, giving him a light punch in the chest. "As I was saying, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me in a long time. Probably the best thing ever since this pandemic started."
"Wow, Carrots," Nick was stunned. "That's…that's great. I'm glad I'm that meaningful to you."
"But it also makes me…so scared."
"Scared about what?" He asked, almost fearfully.
"That it'll all just suddenly go away. That this is just a dream my mind made up and I'm back with the fireflies, thinking I'll make a difference. I don't want that to happen, Nick." She didn't want to, but her bunny heart couldn't withstand a few tears coming out. The red fox by her side quickly wiped her tears away, positioning himself to her eye level.
"This is real, Carrots. I promise. I will never ever leave you, okay?"
"You really promise?" She said, still dropping a few tears.
"I'll be gone," he said. Judy raised her eyes in shock and sadness until he uttered his next words, with his typical teasing grin. "In a millennium or two."