Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or its related characters. All is the property of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Clark Spencer, and Byron Howard. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
Silent Civil War
Chapter Fourteen: Chase Off Into the Sunrise
Bogo stretched in his chair. He had fallen asleep at his desk again.
This was becoming a habit. A bad habit that was decidedly hard on his back. If he wasn't going to start going home when he should, then he should start storing a cot in his office -if for no other reason than to lie to himself and say he was taking care of himself.
Rubbing his hooves over his eyes, he looked down at the documents he'd been studying before he fell asleep. The incident reports from the death of Hopps and capture of the fox that killed her, and the raid on Cliffside. Also out on the desk were his tape recorder with his interview with Lionheart on it, and Hopps' stupid carrot shaped novelty pen.
Picking up the evidence bag containing the pen, Bogo stared at it for a moment, wondering why he'd taken this particular item out of the evidence boxes. Could it be that he felt -in some strange way- that the pen was a sort of 'avatar' for Hopps' spirit. That if he had it out with him while he was going over the case, that her brilliant prodigy-detective skills would somehow help him solve her murder (he was calling it a murder now, in his own mind) from beyond the grave? Westley Bogo was not usually given over to such superstitious ideas. Maybe it was just that the bright colors appealed to him on a visceral level. Or, was it more likely that he just simply pulled it out of the box while looking for a document underneath it and never put it back away? The buffalo was rather sleep deprived.
Standing, Bogo decided he needed some coffee.
He tossed the carrot pen back on his desk where it landed on its side -right on the play button. The force of the fall pressing the button for the playback of whatever it was that was recorded on it.
Bogo froze.
"What are you gonna do? Kill me!" Hopps' voice asked from beyond the grave.
"Oh no, sweetie. He is!" Answered a second voice. Also female, and sounding uncomfortably similar to the mayor's. But that was -no... She wouldn't... No... That couldn't be right.
There was a soft pop-hiss, a p'sh sound similar to that of a gun silencer. Then a soft splat. A grunt of discomfort.
"No, Nick, fight it!" Hopps was shouting.
Nick. That was the name of the fox that killed her. Nickolas Wilde. Bogo had snapped the muzzle over the fox's snarling jaws himself. Hopps had recommended him to the academy before -before this incident happened. They were friends before he went Savage.
"He can't help it, Judy. Its in his nature." The second female voice that sounded suspiciously like Dawn Bellwether taunted.
There then followed the sounds of a struggle. Shifting sand. Someone struggling to move. Something hard banging on metal. More shifting sand and movement. A grunt. The sound of something heavy impacting that metal thing again, and then a clang like something falling down a narrow shaft. A deep breath. Another grunt. A canid wine of pain. More shifting sand. Snarling and snapping.
And then the recoding cut off abruptly. The pen's short memory full.
Bogo stood there, rooted to the spot, unable to move. Staring at the carrot on his desk. He just heard the attack on Officer Hopps -in full.
Yes, the fox went Savage and attacked her. That everyone already knew. But the shocking thing was that -if he was interpreting the dialogue correctly- he was made to. Someone -someone who sounded suspiciously like the mayor did something to the fox that made him go Savage. The p'sh sound of a gun silencer. Someone was shooting predators with something that made them go crazy! All this chaos, all this tension, this... (for lack of a better word) Species War was being intentionally orchestrated by another Mammal.
Another Mammal who sounded uncomfortably like Dawn Bellwether.
Scooping up the pen, Bogo rewound the recording and hit replay just to make sure he hadn't imagined it. That it wasn't the product of his over-worked and sleep deprived imagination.
"What are you gonna do? Kill me!?"
"Oh no, sweetie. He is!"
No, Bogo definitely didn't imagine it. The fox might have been the one to deal the death blow to Officer Hopps. But he was only the instrument -the murder weapon. The actual murderer was another Mammal. A Mammal that sounded suspiciously like Mayor Bellwether. He didn't quite know what to do with this startling new revelation.
But, as it happened, he didn't really have the time to think about this new revelation, never mind do anything about it.
"Chief!" Muttonson burst through the door, looking startled and frantic. "Call just came in from Zootopia General. There's a fire in the Savages' ward!"
…
The only other Savage that was recovering from the Night Howler still being kept strapped down with bed restraints was a bangle tiger by the name of Rodrigo Colmillo. The back-up dancer who went Savage in the middle of a performance, mauled Gazelle, and killed another of his fellow tigers. Like Nick, Lakeson decided he was also a self-harm risk.
The door of his room was thrown open with a loud BANG to punctuate the action. A fox wearing identical hospital pajamas as the ones he was issued (just in a more appropriate size) rushed in. Heat surged in with him and Rod saw a background of flame and smoke behind him.
"What's going on?" He demanded as the fox pulled on his restraints in a frantic rush to free him.
"Sorry, Stripes, no time to explain." The fox snapped with tense impatience. One of the nylon straps holding the tiger was unfastened, but the second was proving to be a bit more difficult and the fox gave up, dragging a claw across the fabric to cut it off instead. "Get up! We gotta get the hell outta here!"
Out in the corridor, he saw a black jaguar holding an unconscious spotted jaguar. There was a grizzly bear carrying a wolf and a panther over each shoulder. There was also a bunny, and a second -smaller- fox. The latter of whom was dragging a hippo sized fire extinguisher around, blasting fire retardant chalk ineffectively at any flames that were bold enough to draw near the group.
"You do-gooding idiots can't save 'em all!" The little fennec fox snarled. "The gay tiger might be able to carry another one. But that'll still leave seven unconscious with no way out." He tried blasting another puff of the fire retardant only to have the extinguisher give an impotent little cough when nothing came out. "Scratch that! We're all gonna die!"
For a moment, everyone seemed like they were going to agree with the little fox and give into despair. They were all about to die a painful and gruesome death, screaming as the flames tore through their fur, seared their flesh, and burned their lungs. Their screams turning to ash in their mouths.
Then the rabbit -of all Mammals- grabbed the empty fire extinguisher from the fennec fox. "Don't be such a pessimist. Nick, help me with this!"
The rest of the group watched in panic's confusion as the little bunny dragged the to-large-for-her fire extinguisher into the nearest room and began trying to lift it to the window.
Realizing what her plan must be, the red fox -Nick- rushed after her to help. He pulled a chair over to the window for her to get some height on it and together, they lifted the fire extinguisher and used it as a battering ram against the bars.
Yes, the windows were barred. But they were barred to prevent Mammals from throwing themselves out of them. They were strong enough to prevent a bare-pawed Mammals from tampering with them. They were not designed to take a beating from a large, metal, and heavy object being bashed against it repeatedly and with the force of desperation powering it.
"Hit the bolts where its connected to the window." Nick told the bunny. "We need to make a hole big enough for the bear to get through."
"Right." She nodded. Then, to Rod whom was just watching in horror. "Tiger, if there's anyone still in their room you think you can carry, grab them! We need to save as many Mammals as we can!"
The air was quickly filling with acrid smoke and it was becoming increasingly hard to breath. Rod looked around wildly, unsure of what to do. Everyone else seemed to be doing something. The black jaguar, carrying the spotted one, the grizzly bear holding not one but two other similarly sedated Savages, the fox and the bunny -two of the three smallest Mammals present- working furiously to find them a way out and save all their lives. Rod just stood there, like a beautiful useless idiot.
Screwing up his courage, the tiger kicked in the closes door to them was that still closed. Another wolf laid unconscious on the hospital bed. Unfastening his restraints, Rod hoisted the other predator over one shoulder and rejoined the others in the room where the fox and bunny were beating furiously on the window bars.
The fire was primarily out in the hall. As if the floor tiles themselves were burning -probably from some spilled oil or whatever. It was spreading, but hadn't made it all the way into the rooms yet. If they actually managed to get that window cleared, they might actually have a chance at surviving this.
With one final crash of metal on metal, one of the four bolts securing the bars to the window frame broke off.
"Well that wasn't so hard." The bunny reassured everyone, optimistically.
"Yeah. Now we're only seventy-five percent gonna die." Finnick coughed. He was a real positive Mammal.
Nick ignored them and began working on the next bold holding the bars in place. His eyes were watering and it was hard to tell if it was from the smoke or anxious tension. "Stuff it, Fin. We're gonna get out of here! Because... because I can't get Carrots killed a second time."
"You didn't get me killed a first time." The bunny reminded him.
He didn't look at her, just kept hammering away at the bolt. He might not have killed her, but that didn't mean that he didn't believe he killed her.
The second bolt came off faster than the first. Breaking one weakened the structure of the whole so that it didn't take quite as much abuse to get the second bolt off. Nick tried to lift the bars. Bending them upwards. There was no way he and Judy were going to reach the bolts on the top of the window frame. But the bars were one solid piece, if he could just bend them up enough to open the window, they'd be free.
"Need more muscle!" The fox called, eyes darting to the grizzly bear.
Barry DiCaprio stepped forward. He laid the two Mammals he was holding down in the floor next to the window and gripped the warm metal bars with both paws. Putting all his strength into it, he pushed up on the metal as hard as he could. The fox and the bunny adding their own strength to the effort.
At first, nothing happened. Everyone was ready to give up and give in to despair.
Then there was the sound of strained metal groaning and the window bars began to bend upwards. They pushed them as far up as they could. Finnick rushed forward and opened the window -flooding the room with fresh air. Oxygen. Everyone was about to breath a deep sigh of relief. Except the influx of new oxygen also rejuvenated the flames. The fire leaping up more aggressive and terrible than it was before.
"Time to go!" Nick shouted.
Finnick had already jumped out the window the moment he had it open. A real hero that one.
"Anyone able to carry someone, grab them and get out!" Judy called over the roar of the fire. "We can survive this!"
DiCaprio grabbed the two he had been carrying. Lowering one down through the second floor window, then the other. Then he jumped out himself. The landing was a bit harder than he would have liked, but he made it and was alive, and that was really the important thing, after all. He reached up to get the spotted leopard Manchas was lowering out next. Then Mr. Manchas himself. Then the wolf Rod grabbed at the last minute. Then the tiger dancer was climbing out the window after him.
Finally, Nick and Judy jumped out. A little singed around the tail and ears, but alive and together.
Everyone who was conscious enough to appreciate what they'd just lived through all breathed one big collective sigh of relief. Enjoying the feel of clean oxygen in their lungs and quickly realizing that they'd been breathing in smoke for perhaps longer than was healthy. They all sank to the pavement in a coughing fit. Hacking and wheezing.
"We need of get out of here." One of them said between hacking breaths.
"I hope Finnick went to get the van and didn't just leave us." Judy admitted as she gasped for more air. She didn't think he would, after all, he was the one to come to her in order to rescue Nick. But that didn't mean it wasn't within the realm of possibility.
"Well, knowing him," Nick coughed and gasped, then paused to think since he actually did know his partner, "eh... its a coin toss, really."
And then, as if on cue, the red van with its provocative fantasy mural pulled up along side them and honked its horn.
"Get in losers!" Finnick shouted at them.
Both back doors were thrown open and Emmitt Otterton poked his nose out. He saw the group sitting or kneeling on the pavement, some of them laying down unconscious. He didn't say anything, not out loud, but the otter's eyes locked with Nick's and they both realized that there was no way they were all going to fit in the fennec fox's van. The sedated Savages would have to be left behind -probably the bear, DiCaprio, too. Since he was so large. But at least they were alive. That was something. Right?
Everyone who was conscious climbed to their feet, the larger Mammals helping the smaller ones up. Nick was holding Judy's paw, the fox pulling the rabbit back to her feet when her long sensitive ears picked up the heart stopping sound of a gun cocking.
"Freeze! Police!"
Somewhere in the space of a heartbeat, the paw that was holding Judy's, instead found itself wrapped protectively around her, the larger fox using his body to shield the smaller bunny from the gun that was pointed at them. That is, until they recognized the Mammal that was holding said gun.
"Chief!" Judy wriggled out of Nick's hold.
Seeing the rabbit clearly for the first time, the water buffalo found himself suppressing a gasp, staring at the supposedly departed officer in disbelief. "Hoops!? But you're supposed to be dead."
Of course she wasn't dead. He reprimanded himself sternly. They never retrieved a body from the scene. No body, no crime. He was the Chief of Police, he should know that already. She was alive, and -once again- she was in the company of that damn obnoxious fox!
An obnoxious fox whom cracked a smirk at him. "Reports of her demise have been greatly exaggerated."
The bunny gave the fox a light slap on the chest. "Nick, don't taunt my boss!"
Hopps was alive and the fox that supposedly killed her was sane. ...And back in his officer, still sealed in its evidence bag, was a pen recorder containing evidence that pointed to the mayor as the one who tried to kill Hopps and turn the fox Savage. Although the buffalo still didn't know how. Bogo lowered his weapon -but he did not return it to its holster. "I don't even know what's going on in my city anymore."
There was a beat of silence, filled by the wail of sirens and the shouts of officers and hospital staff trying to evacuate the building quickly but orderly. For the moment, the fire was confined to one ward, but that didn't mean it wouldn't spread.
After the moment dragged on a bit longer than was comfortable, Judy took a step forward. Nick's hand holding her paw tried to pull her back to him where it was safer, but she pulled out of his grasp.
"Predators aren't just going Savage, Chief." She informed the larger Mammal. "Not on their own and not for no reason. Someone is making them. Mr. Otterton-" she nodded to the otter still in the van "-knew how and was going to tell someone in a position to do something before he was turned. Nick and I-" she nodded to the obnoxious fox "-found their lab were they were making the stuff that was turning predators Savage and then they tried to take us out too. By- by turning Nick Savage so that he would attack me."
'What are you gonna do? Kill me?'
'Oh no, sweetie. He is!'
That was certainly consistent with what Bogo had heard on her carrot pen. But the way Hopps described it, it sounded like a much lager conspiracy than just a single corrupt politician getting rid of witnesses. He looked up at the building. At the flames pouring out of the hospital windows. Bogo counted nine Savages outside. That meant there were still eight Mammals trapped up there, dying of fire, or smoke inhalation, or parts of the structure collapsing, or any number of other things that can happen during a fire. Whoever set the fire was not just guilty of arson, but murder as well.
Bogo looked back at Hopps. "Otterton and the fox, they are key witnesses?"
The rabbit nodded. "Mr. Manchas too, probably. Otterton told him about the Night Howler before she was darted."
"Night Howler?" The buffalo asked. Then he shook his head. That wasn't important at this exact moment. There were to many Mammals running around. To many witnesses and Bogo suddenly realized that he didn't know who he could trust and who he couldn't. That was the problem with institutionalized conspiracies. You didn't know who knew what or whom was on who's side. "Never mind. Hopps, I am unofficially placing Otterton, Manchas, and your fox under your protective custody. You are to get them out of the city and find a safe place to lay low."
He didn't mention for how long. He didn't know how long he might need.
"Sir?" She stared up at him with those wide amethyst eyes of hers.
She looked absolutely nothing like a responsible and competent officer of the law capable of protecting the lives of Mammals larger than herself. But then that an assessment she'd proven wrong numerous times already. If Bogo had to describe Judy Hopps in one word, it would be 'formidable'.
"There's a conspiracy in my city, Hopps, and I don't like it." The buffalo growled. "If these Mammals can help take the conspirators down, then I want them protected. They're witnesses, Hopps, keep them safe so they can testify."
There was a second beat of silence. Then the rabbit's eyebrows came down over her eyes. The bunny turning on her 'serious face'. "Yes, sir. You can count on me."
He knew he could. She was deceptively industrious.
She nodded to the other Mammals behind her whom began filling into the van. The fox paused at Hopps' side.
"Not everyone will fit in our getaway car." He informed the chief, very soberly.
"You, Manchas, and Otterton, go." He told the smaller Mammal. "I'll take care of the others. -Better care of the others."
Nodding his understanding, the fox grabbed Hopps' paw and lead her over to the van.
But Hopps pulled out of his grasp one more time. Turning back to Bogo, she said, "One more thing, keep your guard up. They already tried to take you out once already. On the night Gazelle was attacked, when you were out with Clawhouser. One of them tried to dose him with Night Howler -the Savage drug. They're using snipers. Be on the look out."
His eyes went wide for a moment at the realization that the mayor might try and kill him. Then, he realized, if he was willing to arrest Lionheart, the previous mayor, then she would know that he could and would do the same to her. She would have to get him out of the way eventually. That is, assuming the mayor really was the one behind the conspiracy. It sounded like her voice on the recording. But that didn't mean it really was her. Bogo nodded. "And, Hopps, you;ll wanna get those collars off them as soon as you can. Its not public knowledge, but there are trackers in them."
"I will." The rabbit nodded and followed her fox into the van, slamming the doors shut behind them.
The van sped away, peeling out of the hospital parking lot with a screech of tires. A few officers shouted at them, but they had bigger things to worry about with the evacuation. Moving all patients out of a hospital was no easy task. They needed all hooves and paws on deck. Bogo turned back to the task before him.
Within the space of a few hours, it seemed the climate of his city had just become world more complicated. But he would handle it and do his job the same way he always did. One crisis at a time.
…
Judy looked around the back of the van. Manchas, the largest Mammal of their group, was hunched behind the passenger seat. Otterton was in said passenger seat, directing Finnick as to the quickest way out of the city. Nick scooted closer to her, once again taking her paw in his and pulling her into him.
"Sit down before you hurt yourself." He said, almost perfectly timed before Finnick made a hard turn that would have pitched her tail over head had she still be standing.
"Where's Primal?" She asked. She sent him to the van with Otterton.
"Left to help with the evacuation around the same time the little fox rushed in to rescue you." The otter supplied. "I guess he'll also help the police take care of the others..."
Everyone shared a sobering moment of silence as they were confronted with the fact that they had to leave so many Mammals behind. A cloud of guilt fell over the van. Something akin to survivors guilt. They were getting out, and the other predators were staying behind.
They drove in silence for a time. Finnick, stopping at every check point and passing a neatly folded wad of cash to the guards. Nobody asked too many questions. Nobody checked the back. The journey out of the city was tense, but it was lubricated by the money Finnick took from Nick's apartment.
Until, finally, they passed the final checkpoint and were on an empty stretch of highway heading to nowhere.
"Pull over anywhere." Judy said, realizing they were finally out of the city. "We need to get the collars off. The Chief said they had trackers."
One lonely and abandoned stretch of road was just as good as any other lonely and abandoned stretch of road. Finnick pulled the van over to the shoulder the moment Nick's bunny said the word 'trackers'. Turning around in the driver's seat, he stared at the rabbit. "How do we get them off? They shock us if we tamper with them."
That right there told Judy that Finnick had already tried taking his collar off at some point.
She tapped her chin in thought. There had to be a way to get them off. Even if the intension was for the predator to wear their TAME collar indefinitely, there would still need to be some kind of release in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Judy turned to Nick, examining his collar. Paying special attention to the clasp that secured it around his neck. There was a seem where the two ends connected, but no snap, button, or catch. Just a small pin-hole on the underside of the clasp. A pin key release then.
Turning back to Finnick, she asked, "I don't suppose you have a paperclip somewhere in here?"
"You know that trick doesn't actually work." Both foxes informed her in a perfectly timed choir, no rehearsal.
Nick smirked at the bunny cop. "Only Mammals who've never had to pick a lock before, think locks can be picked with paperclips."
"Well, you would know, wouldn't you." She returned his smirk with one of her own. "But pin-hole releases can be unlocked with a pin, or paperclip. Anything small and thin, really. If you have anything that small and thin."
At that, everyone in the van began combing it. Searching for anything that fit that description. A paperclip, a safety pin, the needle to a syringe if Finnick was into that sort of thing -he was not. Anything that might work.
Otterton saw the embroidered portrait of Robin Goddfellow poking out of Finnick's plastic bag of money and pulled it out. He wasn't expecting to find anything, really. But when he flipped the embroidery over, there, stuck between the interfacing and the needlepoint image was a sewer's straight pin. A long one, too. Like the kind used for quilting.
"Will this work?" He held the pin up for all to see.
"That'll do." Judy nodded, taking the straight pin from the otter and turning back to Nick.
The red fox lifted his chin to give his bunny easier access to his collar, but that wasn't what he was paying attention to. His eyes focused on the needlepoint portrait in the otter's hand. "Hey! Isn't that mine!"
Finnick shot him a puckish grin. An expression almost identical to the one embroidered onto the trickster god's face. "The money was yours too. You paid our way out of the city. Thanks."
"Urgh! Fin, I swear, you are so- Ah!" Nick was cut off mid threat as the collar gave one final shock of protest before falling away from his neck. It clattered to the floor of the van and he kicked it away with mingled relief and disgust. Massaging this throat, he asked, "Is ti supposed to do that when you take it off?"
"Probably not." Judy admitted as she turned to Manchas to remove his collar next.
As with Nick's his collar gave a parting shock before unlocking and falling away.
Otterton was next. He braced himself for the shock, but still flinched when it happened.
Finnick was last. A fact that chose to grumble about even more than the shock his collar gave him before it too fell away.
All four predators now relieved of their TAME collars, Judy gathered up the discarded bands and clipped them all together. Interlocking the collars like links in a chain. She opened the van door, picked a direction -any direction was just as good as any other in the middle of nowhere- and lobbed the collars as hard as she could away from the road. They went arching threw the air, the chain of them tumbling end over end until she heard them land somewhere in the tall grass.
Let Bellwether try and track them with the collars. All she'd find would be fleas and ticks.
Pulling the van door shut again, Judy sat back down next to Nick. "Lets drive."
"Where to?" Asked Finnick. "The Chief Fuzz put you in charge, Toot-toot. What safe house have you got lined up for us?"
The answer to that question was 'none'. Judy hadn't exactly planned on fleeing the city with four predators when she set out from Mr. Big's estate with the small fennec fox. Her mind had been consumed with saving Nick and she didn't -or couldn't have- thought beyond that. Now Nick was safe, as was Mr. Otterton and Mr. Manchas, and she was responsible for their continued safety until Bogo could build a case against Bellwether and expose her conspiracy. So then, where was she going to keep them safe?
"Head east." She said. "South east. I'll give you more directions when we get closer."
She was heading to the only other place in the world where she'd felt truly safe. The one place she wanted to run to the moment it was announced that she was dead.
Maybe it was a predictable move for a prey like her. But when you're being pursued, you go to ground. You go to ground in your home, and a bunny's home was in a burrow.
…
It was early morning in the Hopps family burrow. Morning for them usually began at five, before the day grew to hot to make working in the fields practical.
Bonnie was just putting the first round of breakfasts out when there was a rough and insistent knock on the door.
No one visited this early in the morning. Social calls were an afternoon affair. That meant that it was some version of an emergency. One of their neighbors from the next property over (a good four miles down the road) needing help, maybe. Either that, or a displaced predator that had drifted down from the city and was looking to strong-arm himself some hospitality. Either way, just as a precaution, Stu grabbed his gun before opening the door.
What he saw standing on the step was the last thing he would have ever imagined.
"Hi, dad. I'm not dead." Judy stood on the porch. Looking exhausted, like she hadn't slept all night. Behind her stood four other Mammals, all avoiding eye-contact. "Uh, these are my friends. We need a place to stay."
…
END