The fire burned brightly in the night, as Gideon sat beside it to catch some warmth. It had been two days since he had left on his crusade to find his brother's killers. At first, he was skeptical, thinking that doing this would do more harm than good and would ultimately threaten the community he had worked so hard to maintain. Seeing it prospering for so many years gave a lot of comfort to the stout fox. Now, sitting by his lonesome in the fire, he could only think about Nick's untimely death, and how much it had affected the lives of every mammal of Bunnyburrow.
It broke his heart seeing Judy and Clementine desolate beyond belief. It broke his heart even more when he had to take a look at his dead body, mangled beyond belief, completely unrecognizable from the fox he once was. One of his eyes was struggling to come out of its socket, and his head had an open view to his brain, or at least what had remained of it. And the smell. Oh, that awful, putrid, horrendous smell. He couldn't shake it off of his snout, making him want to just tear it off. If only he was brave enough to do so.
He wondered if Judy and Clementine were currently on their way to him right about now. They probably wouldn't be able to be stopped by even his wife, who had garnered a reputation of being the harsh ruler of their community. He couldn't blame them, but at the same time he had done this for them. So that they didn't have to suffer going through this journey of loss and pointlessness. He knew revenge was stupid, but at the same time, he couldn't imagine doing anything else right now. There was no other way for him to heal.
"Cassie…are you up there?" he asked her, looking at the sky. "I don't even know if Nick would even be up there. The way he died, though…I don't think anyone deserves that."
He turns the small bird currently burning in the fire slowly, making sure to cook every part of it evenly. Still, he kept on talking to the nightly clouds.
"I hope Abby is there with you. She still a little troublemaker? Hehe. I bet she'd be running around the fields, like we used to do. Remember that, sis?" Waiting for a response that never came, the fox took the bird from the fire and ate it silently, tearing up. When he finished, he drank some water from his canteen and spoke to her some more.
"If by some miracle of God he's actually up there, cut him some slack about being with a rabbit," he laughed wholeheartedly. "The man was pretty celibate for five years. That bunny, though, I have a feeling you would've loved her. She's like you in a lot of ways. Strong. Fierce. No one to dare tell her what she should and shouldn't do. It's like looking in a mirror. Anyway, treat him well, alright? At least until I get there. Say hi to our little vixen for me, okay?"
Knowing a response would never come, the fox began setting up his sleeping bag, shutting out the fire to prevent any raiders from knowing his location. With one last look at the sky, he shut his eyes, destroyed at the fact he was now the only fox of the Wilde family.
…
19 Years Ago
"I don't know what I'm gonna do, Giddy," said a shaken vixen on a hospital bed, looking at the sonogram pictures of her ultrasound. "I don't even know how Nick is going to react to this news."
"He better react well to them," said the fox by her bedside, taking time away from his busy schedule as a contractor to visit her at the hospital. "Or else he's gonna react to these fists," he said, flexing his biceps, making Cassie laugh. Nick had been caught up in other matters, specifically tax-related, so he couldn't attend. He was mad at Nick for it, of course. One doesn't just abandon their wife in a hospital. Cassie had said not to worry about it, so that's what he was gonna do.
"I don't know," Cassie said, unsure. "He always reacts badly to things, and he might freak out since he knows about my past attempts to conceive."
"This is different, Cass. As much as I hate to say it, that dumb fox sure loves ya a lot, and I don't think that's gonna change. He'll respect your decision no matter what."
"Thank you, Giddy, I hope you're right," she said, caressing the black and white photo on her paws. With keen eyes, one could easily see the baby's ears, as well as her small tail that was yet to develop fully. It was such a wondrous thing to look at, knowing that it was growing right underneath her belly.
"You thought of a name for her yet?" Gideon asked.
"Abby sounds nice, don't you think?"
"Sis, I don't really know if it's a fitting name, but if you say it's good, then it is."
"Oh come on, Giddy, you gotta at least judge if it fits, at least," Cassie said, insisting that he form an opinion for himself.
He sighed, looking at his sister with a smile. "Abby sounds wonderful. I mean it."
She smiled smugly. "Was it that hard, you grumpy face?" she scrunched his right cheek with her free paw, earning a squeak of surprise from the fox.
"Hey, paws off, you freaky girl!" he took her paw out of his face playfully, the two foxes smiling at each other happily. Gideon remembered the good times they had as kids, running around the hills of their old town.
He stole a glance at her sister and saw her distressed face, making him frown. Nick was very much to blame for this, what with not being here and being the cause she was pregnant in the first place. Gideon knew there was nothing he could've done about that, but his protectiveness towards his sister would never go away.
"Wanna hear a joke?" He asked her, trying to cheer her up the only way he knew how.
"Really? Is now the time for jokes?"
"Oh it is definitely the best time for jokes. I don't wanna see you wallowing so much, you know it makes me want to wallow too and two wallowing foxes wouldn't go over well here."
She laughed. "Oh gosh. I hope she doesn't pick up your sense of humor."
"Oh she'll have to. I'm gonna tell her so many jokes she's gonna come out of there doing stand-up."
"You're a silly fox, Giddy."
"I aim to please," he said smugly.
"Okay, okay, so what's the joke?"
"Alright, here goes," he adjusted his throat, making motions with his hands to accentuate every word out of his mouth. "What do you call a three-humped camel?"
Present Day
"It's her. That's the one who killed him." Clementine gave Skye the other pictures, taking that one for herself.
Clementine still had a lost expression, looking far into the vixen of the photo. "Three down, right?" Skye told her, referring to the dead members of the group they had managed to kill.
"Three down," Clementine agreed with confidence. Judy sighed.
The sound of the radio prevented her from making a comment. "Six, this is two, do you copy?" At this point, all three of them were fixated on it, quietly expectant of that it would say next. "Support unit Tundra en route to the TV station. Repeat, support Tundra en route-"
"Shit," said Skye, not hearing the radio anymore. There was a group coming to the TV station, and they had to get out of there.
"Yeah, we should get going," said the red vixen, leaving everything in the room behind except for the pictures and some of Leah's documents. Skye stuffed the whole heap of pictures in her back pocket, while Clementine put Abby's in the front pocket of her bag. The doe took a last look at the she-wolf, and went right behind them.
"Well…she's dead," said Skye. "How do you guys feel?" She asked.
"Pissed we couldn't talk to her," said Clementine.
"The same," said the doe. "It means this journey is still far from over."
"Yeah, but she didn't hurt Nick," commented Skye. "It would've been fucked up to make her talk."
Clementine disagreed with this. "She traveled hundreds of miles just to see him get tortured. I don't care whether she held the club or not."
"You should care, Clem," said Judy. "You didn't know her circumstances. For all we know, she was obligated to go with Abby."
"She knew what she was in for, and still went for it. I have no pity for her," replied the red vixen.
Judy breathed deeply, exhaling slowly. "Just…direct your anger to the ones who are trying to hurt us. Nothing else."
"They all hurt us. One way or the other. If they get in my path, I won't hesitate."
The anger was visible in the red vixen, both in words and body language. She had truly meant those words. What she had said silenced the doe completely, ridding the room of any sound.
Skye tried to break the ice. "You guys wanna find somewhere to hole up? Look over Leah's stuff?"
"For sure," said Judy, who had seemed to remember she was getting tired as she leaned on a wall. "Let's head deeper into Downtown. We can find a building to secure."
"Sounds like a plan," said Clementine.
The doe and both vixens climbed down to the lower floor of the TV station through an open window, the other side of it harboring a dead racoon by some scaffolding steps. Gathering some of the pistol ammo left by the dead mammal, the crew walked back to the area of the hanged corpses.
"Keep your eyes open," Judy heard a voice say below them.
"Wolves," she said, alerting both Skye and Clementine.
"Shit, already?" Asked Skye, now walking stealthily in the area. "I hoped we could just leave without worrying about them."
"We've never had that kind of luxury," said Clementine. "Stay close. Judy, as always, you're my ears. Let's try to do this quietly."
To this, Judy nodded and was glad that Clem didn't want to take the more dangerous approach.
On the front, Clementine sneaked attentively, watching for any sights of the more quiet mammals who even Judy would have trouble hearing. Arriving at the indoor balcony, Clementine could see the hanged bodies again, as well as some Wolves below them.
"Crackers…They're all dead! Fucking Scars killed 'em!" Screamed a soldier, starting to sob from the sight.
"Spread out! We still could have Scars in the building. Watch each other!"
"On me," said Clementine, leading them through the many cubicles that served as cover.
"Someone get to the radio and call this in, now!" Screamed one of the Wolves. The trio kept moving, still seeing no sign of anybody on their floor.
"What are you doing?" They heard a Wolf say.
"Cutting them down," said the same sobbing voice.
"Make sure the building's clear first."
"I'm not leaving them up here!"
"The fuck's cutting them down gonna do now? Go!"
"Right below us, Clem," said Judy. Passing by a clear window, Clementine could see a bull and a lioness with their guns raring to strike them. She kept on moving, passing through a small opening on a wall.
"Twelve o'clock," whispered Judy. "Two of 'em."
Looking at her twelve, Clementine could see it was indeed two Wolves, both of them horses. She could see the stairs to go down right there, but she couldn't risk going after it yet. She had to be smart about this.
Covered behind a cubicle, the red vixen could see the mare slowly walking to them. Judy tapped her in the shoulder, letting her know someone else had started closing in on them from behind. Cursing silently, she went to the right of the cubicle to try and evade both of the enemies sandwiching the trio. Thankfully, the mare went past them, sliding herself through the wall they passed a few seconds ago. The other horse stayed in the area, searching around the cubicles in front of him. Clementine could see he was wielding a hammer, threatening to swing at whoever he saw as he turned the corners of the tables rapidly. Clementine went around one of the cubicles, easily avoiding the horse.
With no more enemies in front of them, they were ready to head down, where more of the Wolves were waiting for them.
"I count at least four," said Skye. "Let's find a quick exit and scram."
"Yeah," said Clementine back. "Good work back there, Jude," she congratulated her mother. She had been through enough, and needed some positive encouragement. Judy smiled and nodded, happy that she felt useful.
"We're not out of the waters yet," the bunny said. "The faster we skedaddle, the quicker we can find a safehouse."
She grinned at her wording and began her descent down the stairs. As usual, the one part of the stairs connecting them to the lower floor was missing, so they needed to make a quick jump. They had to time it just right to prevent themselves from being caught.
"On my signal," said Clementine, who had a clear visual of the perps who would be more likely to see them jump down. When she saw her opening, she acted on it. "Now," she whispered as the trio jumped down to the lower floor, quickly hiding behind a table near to them. There were two animals guarding the front, and two guarding the back of the area. The two mammals in the front were the biggest, a tiger and a hippo respectively, and the one hurdle they needed to get through in order to get out of it.
"Sunny, I think now is a good time to show you how to make that silencer," she whispered to the red vixen, who had been caught off-guard by that comment.
"What? Now?" she asked.
"Yes. Those mammals aren't gonna get outta the front and that's the only way out. We gotta take 'em out silently."
"She makes a good point," said Judy.
Clementine tried looking for other ways out of there without having to go all out on these mammals. It's not like she cared about them, but she wasn't going to risk their lives any longer by being so reckless. Recognizing there really was no other way to move forward, Clementine got out her pistol and handed her to Skye. "Show me," she said.
With a smile, Skye gathered the necessary equipment, which was a simple plastic bottle and tape, and built it for Clementine while she watched attentively. It was certainly not as hard as she had thought it was. The bottle had to be taped to the barrel of the gun very tightly so that the recoil doesn't loosen the tape. She also made a small incision in the butt of the bottle where the bullets were going to come out. After tinkering with it some more, Skye handed it back to Clem.
"You got all that?" she asked her.
"Yeah," Clementine said.
"Alright then," she said, also quickly crafting herself a silencer. "At the count of three, let's shoot them at the same time and haul ass out of here."
Clementine nodded, getting into position. "I'll take the hippo, you take the tiger."
Nodding, Skye prepared herself, aiming down her sights at the tiger.
"One," Clementine said, also aiming at the hippo.
"Two," said Skye this time. The tiger moved slightly, which made her readjust her aim.
"Three!" Both of them shot at the same time, the muffled sound seemingly one, as two bodies slumped down on the floor cleanly. At this, the girls were quickly on their way through the now opened door, not even bothering to check if someone else had heard the bodies fall to the floor. Now out of danger, the girls stopped to take a breath.
"Good job out there, girls," said Judy.
"Likewise. Now let's find us a safehouse for the night," said Skye.
"What's the situation?" The girls were startled as more voices and steps were heard.
"Oh no," said Judy. "That's a lot of steps."
"There!" a female wolf along with more soldiers pointed at the two of them. The new WLF group was on a higher floor than them, giving them advantage on the high ground. If they were to stay and fight, they might not survive.
"Let's go!" said Clementine, rushing the group out of another door through a hallway. The danger did not let up, as another WLF patrol popped out of the end of the hallway in front of them, surrounding the trio.
"Through that window, Sunny!" screamed Skye, seeing a broken window to the right. Without even thinking, Clementine took Judy in her arms and jumped, breaking the fall with her feet. The fall hadn't been too far, but she had acted on instinct. Judy was surprised, but they couldn't stop for anything yet. Hearing the trails of bullets behind them, most of them almost hitting, the girls went through a fault in the street, which had more patrols and military cars arriving above them.
"Oh fuck! Guys, we gotta run!" she said, using her paws on the ground to achieve higher velocity.
"Tresspassers! Over there!" she could hear the Wolves above her.
"Are they with the Scars?!" asked a female voice.
"I don't fucking know, just shoot 'em!"
"Don't stop!" said Skye, also making sure Judy was running behind them. "We gotta lose 'em!"
Sliding through some more mud, this time not caring whether she dirtied her tail or not, they approached a dead end. The parking garage gate was closed, and another furious patrol of enemies started shooting at them. The crew ran towards a white door to their right, also taking some cover. The door was thankfully open, as Clementine barged into it with all her strength, allowing the other two girls to enter. The patrol was still heard outside, so Clementine used the nearby vending machine to barricade the door. Skye and Judy were at the ready with their guns in case they managed to push it.
"Alright," said Skye, her breathing erratic. "It'll work for now. Keep going."
The bunny and red vixen advanced first, descending a broken piece of wall through a partly buried door. Skye followed behind them. They kept advancing, now crawling underneath the parking garage.
"Night Howlers ahead," said Judy, pointing at the noticeable purple flowers growing on the ground. "Masks," she said, putting on her own mask and urging Clem to do the same. She did as she was told, still feeling bad about hiding it from Skye.
Heading forward, the group kept crawling through a small tube underneath more rubble. This reminded Clem of their trip through the bank back in Downtown Seaotter. She prayed for their safety as she crawled the unstable terrain.
"Anything?" She heard the Wolves say. They had found another passage to their location. They were still far away.
"Negative! Keep looking!" Replied another one.
Now out of the concrete tube, a door covered in more Night Howlers was open in front of them.
"We gotta get out of here," said Skye. Clementine could not agree more. The place they were in felt very unsettling. The total darkness being interrupted by the deep purple of the deadly flowers was enough to make parts of her fur stand up.
To the left of the door were more turnstiles, this time without anything blocking its movement. Pushing the door with some difficulty made for a very loud whining sound as the oxidized metals rubbed against each other. Soon enough, they were on the other side, which was going to require them to crawl some more. The ventilation system was almost preventing them from moving forward.
"I hope there's a way through," said Clementine, beginning her crawl through the passage.
"I really thought they had us," said Judy, fear in her eyes.
"I know," agreed Clementine. It had been a very close call. "Endure and survive."
"Heh…yeah. Just like old times," replied Judy, smiling at their favorite comic book quote. It was a motto that they lived by everyday.
Beginning to pass through a more narrow passage across the tunnels, a soft howl was heard underneath them.
"Clementine," warned Judy, touching her shoulder to look at the scene below her through a broken piece of wall. It was a fox howler, walking around in a room below. Out of their view, it kept on howling creepily, foreshadowing what was to come for the three mammals.
Leaving the narrow passage through a broken gate, the crew headed into a dark room with only a red light serving them as visibility. This red light belonged to a flare, and said flare belonged to the Wolves, who had found their way to them. Looking closely in front of them, they could see abandoned trains, which suggested they were in the subway system of the city. Silhouettes started appearing, belonging to the Wolves.
"Masks on! Sweep this entire station!"
"So which is it? Are they Scars or trespassers?"
"What are you, deaf? Jo clearly said-"
"Quiet! Watch yourselves. There are howlers here."
The group of three or so soldiers were quietly roaming around the station looking for the group while the howlers were hiding in the rooms closest to them. Taking a nearby bottle from the floor, Clementine launched it in the middle of the room, causing some of the howlers to shriek at the sound.
"What the fuck was that?" asked one of the Wolves. His questions were answered when the group of howlers in the rooms came out to greet them.
"Watch it, watch it! Put those freaks down!" screamed a Wolf, starting to shoot at the howlers while running from them. She shouldn't be enjoying this, but Clementine was having a blast seeing all the soldiers struggling to take down the howlers.
"Aw fuck they're here too?" said one of the Wolves, who had miraculously spotted the trio. The ferret soldier did not have another second to think due to Judy's rifle bullet lodged in his skull. Knowing it still wasn't safe to just wait until everyone was dead, the group decided to keep moving, running towards the abandoned trains. They kept hearing the shooting and pained screams as the Wolves were slaughtered one by one.
Reaching the inside of a train, the girls ran through its entire length until they found one of the carts dislodged from itself, leaving an empty space. The other train cart was next to them. Grabbing the sliding door with both her paws, Clementine barely managed to move it one bit.
"Guys!" She called them, her breath hitching from the running. Judy and Skye approached her, helping her open the door. Even as a team, all three of them had to give all their strength in order to start moving it. When they finally opened a hole big enough for all three to slide through, a wolf howler began running to their direction. With a rush, Skye went inside first.
"Fucking move it!" Said the brown vixen. Clementine let Judy go second and she went last, now helping to lock the door once again to prevent the approaching howler from getting to them. With perfect timing, the door was locked as soon as the howler got near it, banging the window with rage until it realized it wouldn't be able to get in, walking back to the WLF feast she had left for them.
"Are all of you okay?" Said Judy, sitting down in one of the train seats to catch her breath. This unnerved Clementine. Judy was always the more energetic of the bunch. If she was tired, something was wrong. They needed to find shelter and fast.
"We are," said Clementine. "Are you?" She asked the doe worriedly.
"Yeah, just…been a long day today."
"Can't deny that. We're almost done, though. When we're out of here, we'll get us a safehouse, alright?"
"Yeah," said Judy, getting up from the seat, ready to advance. "A house that is safe would be great."
Clementine and Skye chuckled. "Yes it would," the red vixen agreed.
Going deep into the train cart, the trio approached the other end. "Agh, this way is locked," Clementine said. The door to the other cart was covered in rubble.
To the left of the cart, she found a note taped to a wall. The front of the letter just said Jules in big letters. She turned the paper to the other side, finding the message.
Jules-
I hope you made it out and find this.
The two of us got into a minor dust-up with some howlers, but we're still in one piece. Holed up here for the night to lick our wounds. The long-dead body of a man watched over us, a gruesome reminder of why we're doing this. This infection, it really was a warning. Better to live off the land than remain in this rotting mess.
Zachary says if we keep heading north, we'll hit the Seraphite encampment in the next couple days. He calls it "Haven," and they built it all themselves. Hearing him talk about it, it was hard not to get inspired, even optimistic.
I pray for your safety. I hate to think of what Bogo will do if his goons catch you. I'll be holding my breath, waiting for a sign that you're okay.
-Pawley
"Maybe through here?" suggested Skye, who was still on the other side of the train with Judy. Clementine stuffed the note in her backpack and went to her, seeing a half-opened double door of the train. She slid through it first, Skye and Judy following. They moved forward along the train tracks.
"They kept thinking we were Scars," said Skye.
"Yeah, everyone in this city is a fucking psycho," said Clementine.
"No shit," replied the blue-eyed vixen.
Approaching a seemingly dead end, Clementine found their way through the bottom of the train.
"There's an opening under here," said Clementine, crawling under it, Skye and Judy doing the same.
At the same time that they were crawling, they heard some screams from a WLF patrol far away, horrified at something they were fighting with. A big explosion was also heard, with the hollers never ceasing.
"The fuck?" asked Clementine as she came out from under the train, heading forward to another red flare light. A final guttural scream was given out by one of the female mammals and everything went silent.
Entering the door where the red light originated from, they went inside an engine room, as suggested by the sudden change in temperature and the many pipes letting out hot vapor. They could see a dead weasel with a gas mask on the other side of a caged room, with their arms out as if they were trying to escape. A closer look told them that they had been burned alive, most of their fur being replaced by pus-filled boils.
"Carrot sticks," cursed Judy. "Have you ever seen anything like this, you guys?"
"Bloomers have acid spores…but that didn't sound like a bloomer," deadpanned Clementine.
"Whatever the fuck they're fighting, we should let them kill each other," said Skye.
"Agreed," said Judy.
With the help of some rope, the girls were able to go up to a higher position in the room, using a ladder to climb up to a vent. The space was not enough for normal kneeling. They had to keep on crawling through it. The red light still showed them the way to go, leading to a descent in the ground.
"Got another shambler! Just get out of here!" screamed a WLF soldier. The group could clearly see the fight through the grilles of the room below them. The mammals shot at the beast, but it was all in vain. With a croaking moan, the creature filled with boils launched itself to the floor, exploding its boils right on his prey, burning them to death. Their screams lasted for a few seconds before it all went silent again, the creature slowly walking away.
"Holy fox," whispered Clementine. She was not looking forward to fighting that beast. Fighting bloomers was enough of a hassle.
"I've never seen one of those," mentioned Skye, her fear palpable in her tone of voice.
"Me neither," concurred Clementine.
"How can there be new types of savages?" asked Judy. "Don't tell me they're evolving."
"Gosh, I hope not," feared the red vixen.
The vent was hot and humid, the nighthowler flowerings being an unwelcome sight at every place they got to. It was especially annoying to Clem, who really hated wearing gas masks. Finally, the girls reached the end of the vent, climbing out of it thanks to a hole. A red hue through a door on the left of them had told them they had successfully advanced. It wasn't without consequences, though.
"On our left," whispered Skye, who looked at the savage mammals idly walking by. The creature they had seen causing havoc was with them. Right from the get go, she knew bullets did the lowest damage. She had to try a different strategy right away. Fire worked on bloomers, so hopefully it was the same for the so-called Shamblers. The croaking sound of the savage mammal was telling her that he was nearing their room. Setting up a trap mine, Clementine moved further right, waiting for it to set off and do some damage.
Unfortunately, a runner mammal had not given the shambler enough time to get to the bomb, instead opting to take the bomb themselves, blowing them into a billion pieces, alerting the entire room of savages. Just my fucking luck, thought the vixen.
As soon as the explosion was heard, the herd of savage mammals rushed to meet their new friends and give them lots of deadly love bites. Clementine got out her molotov cocktail and instantly shot it at the biggest and most dangerous savage, the rhino shambler. Some of the fiery alcohol managed to hit another runner in the shambler's vicinity, ending his life. A giraffe shambler popped out from the back, about to hit the girls with an acid explosion.
"Get down!" exclaimed Clementine, hiding behind a table with the two girls, preventing the acid blast from getting to them.
The rhino shambler was not quite done yet, grabbing Judy by the neck with immense force. Despite Judy's strength, the rhino's was just too superior for even her. With the same aggressive nature of all the other big savage mammals, the shambler grabbed her head with both paws, planning to crush her skull like a soda can. Neither Skye nor Clementine would ever allow that to happen. With rage building up inside her, Skye got out her axe and swung at one of his arms, cutting it clean off, giving Judy enough strength to get herself out of the other claw clutching her head. Clementine started shooting at him with some shotgun rounds. With his thick skin burned off thanks to the molotov, the shotgun bullets were strong enough to pierce his heart, finally ending him.
The girls ran away from the other shambler, a crazy giraffe with a thirst for blood, the complete opposite to how a giraffe should act. Running around the room, Clementine shot another molotov, the last one she had, hitting the giraffe in the head, burning its whole body. The giraffe kept moaning and expelling its acid, making the girls put more distance between it. Hiding behind a table, Clementine waited for the giraffe to appear again, her shotgun ready. When she saw its long neck peering through the room's door, she shot, the bullets landing on its head. While on the floor, the giraffe gave another howling moan, using its last line of defense. A final burst of acid exploded out of its body, staining the walls and floor with more powdery purple poison. The fight was gratefully over.
"Ugh, fuck these assholes," said Skye. "Judy, you alright?" Skye ran to her, checking for any injuries in the place where the rhino caught her. A single line of blood ran from her cheek, which Skye rapidly cleaned with a clean rag.
"It's just a cut, I'll be fine," she said.
"You sure?" asked Clementine this time.
"Yeah. We're not out of the woodworks yet, let's get out of this damn tunnel," said the doe, getting up to leave the area. Clementine went back on the lead, walking them out.
"Where the hell did these 'shamblers' come from?" asked the red vixen, looking at the two shambler corpses.
"I don't know, but they're disgusting," said Judy.
"Maybe it's because it's wet," said Skye. "Different environment and all that. I have a bit of experience about it," she said, reminding the group her fur changed between seasons of the year.
"Maybe," said Clementine. "But I don't want to stay here and find out more about them."
"Agreed," said her bunny mother.
Walking around the place let the three girls know that they had walked into another old FEDRA base, now being used by the WLF militia for whatever nefarious purposes they had in store. They were able to get to the room with the red light, now dead quiet from the corpses lying on the floor like ragdolls. Smoke still came out of some of their fresh bodies, the acid still sizzling on their flesh.
"Ugh, look at those acid burns," Clementine said.
"I'd rather not," said Judy, purposefully looking away.
"Yeah, I'm good too," said Skye.
Walking the opposite way, Clementine found a metal door with a chain on its side to yank on.
"Let's see where this takes us," said the red vixen, lifting the door with the chain. She could only take it up to a certain point before getting stuck. Skye and Judy passed to the darkened room only illuminated by their flashlights, looking for a way to support the door to allow Clementine to pass through as well.
"Take your time," Clementine said, with an apparent struggle in her voice.
"Almost…done," said Skye, putting a small metal cart beneath the door. "Okay," she said, letting Clementine know she could pass through it. Quickly ducking under the door, the red vixen was on the other side. The metal cart was not strong enough to stay there, bending from the door's weight and sending it back down.
There were more pipes in their tunnelian walkaround, a clear exit to the outside not seen yet. The darkness still overtook the group as they relied mostly on the flashlights, although the vixens' night vision did help a lot. Still, they had to mind the rabbit of the group, who would be totally blind without the artificial lights.
"It looks clear, far as I can see," said Skye, inspecting the hallway.
"Good," said Clementine. She allowed herself to scoff, remembering their previous savage encounter. "Shamblers? As if the others weren't bad enough already."
"Well, that's nature for ya," said Judy.
"Yeah, well nature's an asshole," she replied.
Going through their new linear path, the girls spotted a blue door to their right, which Skye uneventfully opened. Looking forward, Clementine saw a similar door that led to the exact same room. It was an office space that carried a surprising amount of supplies. Taking her time, Clementine went through every cabinet and table, finding very valuable ammunition for most of her guns.
She found a piece of ripped newspaper with some interesting information from the beginning of the pandemic. The tagline read:
MIRACULOUS SURVIVAL IN SUBURB THOUGHT ABANDONED
Clementine kept reading what was left of it:
LOWER NOTTINGHAM- Military forces were surprised yesterday to discover a whole community alive and well. While the surrounding neighborhoods were entirely overrun with victims and of the night howlers(as well as eaten remains from the savage mammals) that's been ravaging the nation, these survivors had managed to keep their streets and homes clear, all by themselves, for the past six months. Found just days away from running out of food, it's a story worthy of calling a 'miracle.'
The community members unanimously credited their survival to one vixen, (Clementine could not read after that due to the torn page, but more words awaited her below it).
than just any ordinary 'Prepper,' she had…
-ily stocked her bunker with enough sup…
for her entire neighborhood.
When asked what inspired her,...
answer was she'd had a vision of…
catastrophe attributing the out…
to a 'divine retribution.'
Other survivors were quick to agree…
the darkness, she guided us,"...
had the foresight to gath…
"she knew you'd find u…
needed to do was wa…
When soldiers tri…
wanted to stay…
only requeste…
last them thr…
unpreceden…
danger to…
the quara…
refused…
While…
uniq…
wil…
im…
G…
That was the end of it. Despite the minimal reading room, she realized they were talking about the Scars. They had formed around six months after the outbreak by a single vixen. She wondered how so many mammals got to put their trust on a vixen. She might not have lived long in that era, but she knew of the prejudices her kind faced.
On her way out, she noticed something strange on the back of the door by a table. It was a wooden statuette of a vixen with scars on each side of her cheek.
"Would you look at that," Clementine said to the two girls. "It's the vixen from the graffities."
"Effigies, nice," said Skye. "Sure wouldn't suck if this is all they did, because that actually looks kinda good."
"I don't think I've ever seen a vixen portrayed as a religious figure," said Judy. "Of course, the time they use one it's with a cult…"
"At least they have respect for her, which I know was a lot to ask of a vixen ten years ago," debated Clementine. "I know it's unhealthy, but I bet this vixen felt really good leading all those people, despite it being a cult."
"I'm gonna meet you halfway on that," said Skye. "If I'd known who she was back then, I probably would've rooted for her."
"There was actually a bunny cultist once," said Judy, quietly. The two vixens looked at her with wide eyes, expecting her to say more. "I was about nine when the big scandal happened. Dude was way over his head about bunnies having to rise up and start making business in developing countries like Zootopia and such. My whole family believed in him, but never actually joined him in his sermons," her small pause told the girls that the ending wasn't any pretty.
"You don't have to keep going if you don't want to, Judy," said Clementine.
"No, I want to," she said. The vixens allowed her to speak again. "One of my brothers was a very hardcore believer, going to each one of his religious retreats, as the cultist called them. It wasn't until about ten months into the cult that everyone was revealed for what it was. A farce. The bunny had been stealing the 'donation' money and had been impregnating the impressionable bunnies who he deemed fit. It was disgusting. Despite all his followers knowing it, they still blindly followed him, like they just couldn't accept a life outside of him anymore. I was nine, so I didn't know the whole story, until I read about it when I was thirteen. All sixty-eight of his followers, including him, had committed mass suicide."
Both vixens gasped at the reveal. Judy also looked down and closed her eyes, deeply breathing to prevent herself from crying. "Carrot poisoning. He told them the weird smell and taste of cyanide was just God's touch," she cried. "Even my stupid brother believed it."
Clementine couldn't handle it anymore and hugged her, making the bunny rapidly accept the hug. "I'm sorry we reminded you of that, Judy," she said. "Don't think about it anymore, alright?"
Judy nodded. "Alright," she said. Skye joined in the hug, which added much needed warmth to the coldness of both mother and daughter.
Finally letting go of the hug, the brown vixen felt embarrassed. "Sorry about what I said. Cults are horrible."
"You don't have to say sorry, Skye," said Judy, with dry tears. "That's why cults are so successful most of the time. They fill mammals' heads with false hope, but when you're grieving or in a broken state of mind, even false hope seems real in their eyes."
Is that what the Fireflies were? False hope?. The thought coursed through Clementine's mind, but it left her just as quickly. Only Judy mattered at the moment.
"Alright, enough moping," said Judy, who was almost always the one pushing them forward, sometimes even at her own expense. "Let's get out of here." With a nod, the girls finally exited the room, continuing their long linear walk across the tunnels.
Finding a grating door at the far end of the hallway yielded no results for them in the long run. It was blocked. Another door at the other side of it kept taunting them, flaunting the exit sign above it.
"There must be a way around," said Skye.
"I like your optimism," replied Clem.
Going left and retreating back, they found a railing to jump over and walk below. She wasn't sure it would be an exit, but it was better than being stuck in that hallway.
"Over here," said Clementine, jumping over the obstacle. A quick fall later, she was in a new room. Croaking and groaning was heard.
"Shit. Shamblers," whispered the red vixen, alerting her companions. Shamblers and a few other savages roamed the place, serving as their new roadblock. Clementine wanted to make quick work of it this time, not wanting to get those giant abominations anywhere near Judy or Skye. Shooting a molotov cocktail at the first shambler, who was a tiger this time, she hit him front and center in the head. With the fire making quick work of his rough skin, Clementine ran towards the mammal, shooting a single burst from her shotgun that ended his life. There were two raccoon runners by him, which were easily taken down with Clementine's machete.
At the beginning of the room where Judy and Skye were located, a hippo shambler popped out from a corner, terrorizing the two. The girls kept their cool, however, also sending a molotov its way. Skye then grabbed her shotgun and replicated her girlfriend, although this time it took her two blasts instead of one due to the hippo's thicker skin. A few more runners came their way, but Skye was able to slice them up with her axe. A few others fell prey to Judy's guns and kicks. Uneventfully, the fight ended flawlessly.
"Okay…I'm ready to get out of here," said Clementine.
"I've been ready, Sunny," said Skye. Judy, a bit winded, nodded in agreement.
Just as Skye had said, there was a way around, and the taunting exit door taunted them no more, as they were now standing right in front of it, ready to use it to escape. Giving a few kicks to the double door, it gave out, letting the crew through it.
"One sec," said Skye, grabbing a nearby pipe and slotting it in between the handles to prevent anything else from getting out, or at least slow them down. "There."
They were in another subway terminal, just as destroyed as the one they had been through earlier. There was not a single train on their respective rails, all of them either tipped over, or attached to one of the walls of the terminal.
"What the hell happened here?" asked Clementine.
"I'm gonna say some kind of train crash," responded Skye.
"Thanks, Detective Basil," laughed Clementine, also making the doe grin.
Passing through the inside of some trains, the girls could finally begin to see the sky again, something that seemed they'd never get to see again. Night Howlers were still around, so their gas masks had to stay put for now. They began climbing some trains to be able to pass through. It seemed to be getting more and more difficult for the bunny of the crew.
"Judy?" asked Clementine, who saw the doe second-guessing herself about climbing the train. The vixen's voice woke Judy up, who looked at her with a smile.
"Coming!" she said, beginning her trail upwards.
Meanwhile, Clementine found another letter addressed to Jules:
Hi Jules-
I'm still holding out hope that you're coming. It's unbelievable, the amount of savages down here.
I'm starting to admire Zachary. He's a solid fighter in close quarters, and he can hear anything creeping around in the dark. I swear, I'm so glad he's a bat. Also, he prays for his ailing father every night, and he joins me in prayer for the ones I love and miss (especially you).
This phrase Zachary keeps saying, "May she guide you," it's what jumps to my mind every time I wonder what's up with you. Maybe there is something greater-someONE greater-watching over us? I'm starting to sound like a religious nut, aren't I?
So…may she guide you, Jules. Travel fast, travel safe.
-Pawley.
The Seraphite symbol was roughly drawn at the end of the page. What Judy said rang true. Jules was probably dead, but Pawley still held out to hope to someday see him again. All thanks to this mysterious figure that he believes is guiding him.
"Getting closer to light," said Clementine, storing the letter on her bag. They were another train climb away from getting to the end of the terminal, where hopefully a nice safehouse would be waiting for them outside. This last climb, while more difficult due to the height, would be nothing against the three of them. Putting her paws together, Clementine helped Judy and Skye climb up, giving Skye the opportunity to throw a metal piece of ventilation that was on top of the train down to her, allowing her to easily get on. When she got on top, she saw both girls panting and struggling to stay up. They needed to find shelter to stay the night and fast.
"Okay…let's rally," Judy managed to say in between breaths. A frown creeped up on the red vixen, scared for both of them.
"We're almost out," she said, reminding them that their journey would soon be over for the day.
"Lead on," said Judy, walking slowly behind her. Clementine didn't see it, but Skye gave Judy a glance that asked her if she was okay. Judy nodded, her eyes gravitating to Clem. Skye sighed and continued following Clementine with difficulty in her step.
They arrived at an inclined train wagon that they had to climb up, having to hold themselves with the railings and chairs to prevent slipping and falling. As soon as Clementine walked to the end of the train, her weight made it start going back down in a sudden motion.
"Oh no!" Clementine screamed, trying to balance herself in the wagon. It went as down as it could have, sliding her to the lower floor violently.
"Sunny!" screamed Skye with worry. "We're coming!" She heard them say.
Trying to get up from the ground resulted in failure, as a strong jackal runner began rushing on her, pushing her back to the ground face up. No matter how much she tried to get him out, the jackal resisted, managing to connect a right hook, which thankfully didn't come with slashes from his claws.
"Get off!" said Skye, swinging the axe at the jackal, which sent its head a few meters in front of them.
Judy was looking at Clementine with a horrified expression, giving a surprised gasp. The red vixen was confused, to say the least. It didn't feel like she had been bitten. Her answer came soon enough when Skye took a look at her.
"Clementine! Your mask!" she screeched. Touching her gas mask, she could feel a piece was broken.
"Here, we can share mine," said Skye, beginning to take it out.
"No, no, no, no!" said Clementine, grabbing both of Skye's paws and pushing her to a wall. "Don't take this off, Skye! Stop!" Judy went to their side, also making sure Skye didn't do anything stupid like that.
"Clem-"
"Stop!" the red vixen repeated, with more intensity this time.
"What?" Skye asked, confused and fearful. She felt even more soulless as she watched her girlfriend take off her mask completely. "Clementine, no!" she screamed, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"Stop! I'm not infected!" she told her. The beans had been finally spilled. "I'm immune!"
Skye was aghast. She looked at Judy to confirm this fact, and the doe just nodded sullenly, embarrassed that the secret had not been entrusted to Skye.
"Look, Skye, I…" she tried to explain herself, but couldn't. A herd of savages was coming straight to them. "Shit. Can you run?"
"Yeah. Yes," Skye said, still reeling.
"Let's fucking go. Go! Judy, come on!"
With this, the girls began sprinting towards the escalators close to them. A savage mammal started grabbing Skye, but received a slash from Clem's machete. Judy was following close behind, shooting off some of the savages.
"Run, Skye! Don't slow down!"
"Clem!" said Judy with a rush. When Clementine looked back, her mother was going at a slower pace than usual through the escalator. She took the bunny in her arms, carrying her. She kept on running, being assisted by Judy shooting behind her at the herd. Despite her quickness, a savage managed to grab her foot, making her trip at the top of the escalator. To prevent Judy from getting crushed by her weight, she launched her in front of her, getting pinned once again by a savage dingo. Skye came back and delivered two point blank shots to the head, offering a paw.
"This way! Hurry!" Skye ran to the left. Clementine grabbed Judy again and began running with the blue-eyed vixen. "Fuck! Go right!" she said, as a multitude of savages came in from their left. To the right awaited a small gate that had to be climbed over.
"Judy! You need to climb this, okay? I can't climb with you!" To this, the doe nodded, grabbing the gate and climbing it as fast as she could. Clementine jumped over it quickly, waiting for Judy to do the same thing. She didn't even wait for the doe to touch the floor, soon enough grabbing her again and dashing in the direction of Skye. They were headed to some turnstiles as more savages came in from their right this time.
"Go, go!" screamed the red vixen, hurrying Skye to walk through the turnstile. A stubborn howler who did not want to accept defeat managed to grab onto Clementine through the bars of the turnstile, beginning to choke her while still holding Judy in her arms. Another shot from Skye was Clem's saving grace, the howler corpse managing to block the path from the other infected.
"What's wrong with Jude?" asked Skye, coming to check on her. The doe was wheezing, clutching her chest with difficulty.
"She couldn't walk. We gotta get her to rest somewhere!"
Nodding, Skye began walking in front of them to look for a place to hole up in. They were finally out of the tunnels. They had gone deeper into Seattle, a plethora of tall buildings being their new environment. In front of them a building called Pinnacle Theater showed its face.
"Hey. Maybe that theater will be great," said Skye.
"It doesn't matter what it is, let's just get inside," Clementine said. She was tired as well, but more worried for her surrogate mother than anything else. "Hear that, mom? A house that is safe. Just for us. Hold on for me, okay?" Judy looked up at her daughter, tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Clem, I should've-"
"Shhh, let's get inside, then we'll talk."
"Please, whoever is up there, let this not be locked," said Skye, trying to force the door open with a few pushes. "C'mon!" With a few more pushes, the thousands of chairs holding the door shut came tumbling down, opening the area for the restless girls.
Skye looked at the inside to check for any loose savages, but only a satisfying silence was around them. "Alright, we're good," she told the red vixen, going inside. A sofa sat close to the door.
"Hey, Judy, can you sit up?" asked Clementine.
"I-I think so," she said, still breathing heavily. With care, he set her down on the sofa. The doe leaned on the sofa. It seemed like she could fall asleep at any minute. Clementine wouldn't allow her to do that yet.
"You wanna tell me what's going on with you?" she accused the doe.
"What's going on with her? What's going on with you, Clementine?" Said Skye. "I just saw you breathe Night Howlers, for fox sake!"
"I told you, Skye! Back at Yax's place, remember? I'm immune."
"Okay. You're immune?" the vixen said, scoffing. "Come on."
"I was bitten a long time ago-"
"The fuck are you talking about?"
"I'm trying to tell you I was bitten and nothing happened, Snow!"
Suddenly, Skye remembered what Clementine had told her. "The chemical burn…"
"Vicky, Gideon, Judy…and Nick are the only ones who know…knew," Clementine said, still eyeing the resting Judy. Her chest moved up and down with quickness. "Now you know. I can't get you infected if that's what you're worried about. I can't make you immune either."
Skye stood silently, not knowing how to keep going with the conversation. Clementine looked at her girlfriend, fearful that she could lose her forever because of this. "Can you say something, please?" she pleaded to the brown vixen.
"Clem…" Judy started speaking. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," her eyes were damp with tears again, fat droplets staining the sofa. "I should've told you before he…"
"Judy, what are you talking about?" asked Clementine, heading closer to her.
"Clementine…" the doe looked up at the red vixen, nothing but despair reigning over her. "I'm pregnant."
And the world stood still for the red vixen.