Chapter 5—Don't Forget the Chocolate

THE NEXT DAY: 10:02 a.m.

"All F units report to the field for exercise."

Finally.

He had waited hours for that announcement. A hard mattress and the cold room had made his few hours of sleep the worst he had ever had. His head spun. Thoughts, plagued with many possibilities, ran through his mind like fruit in a blender. Still, his body stood and took him to the door after it swung open. The floor was terribly cold.

He grasped the soap in his paw and felt its smooth texture against his skin. I can do this, he thought. He stepped out and glanced both directions—the hallway was empty. He stepped out, and a nimbus of warmth surrounded him, a disadvantage, although he still suffered cold from the room.

Soon he caught up with the other foxes, and he stepped out onto the field. It was plasticky and wiry, and it tickled his feet like he was stepping on confetti. The instructor stood a few feet from them. "I'm Kate." She was a wolf who wore black exercise shorts and a white shirt tainted with discoloration around the neckband and underarms. She was young, a few years younger than Nick. She took a long gaze at Nick, then around at the group. "I'll be guiding you along this difficult exercise program. This is day one. Enough chit-chat; drop and give me thirty."

He dropped to the ground and pushed up and down. By the time the instructor reached twelve, Nick felt sweat pooling at his underarms. He pushed on, and at twenty-five the instructor approached him. "Up, pretty boy."

Nick stood up and looked at the instructor. "What?"

"A broken arm's no excuse for getting out of sync. Ten more."

Nick got down and continued. When he finished his fifteen, the instructor turned back to the group. "All right. Sixteen laps—two miles. Get a move on."

Nick rushed off and joined the group. At one lap his chest hurt. At two a cramp was forming in his abdomen. By ten he could hardly breathe. When he caught up with a fox ahead of him and passed his sixteen laps, he stooped down, almost ready to vomit.

"You all did decent today." She hit Nick on the back. "Breathing hard is for suckers. Break for showers."

When he was done, there was fifteen minutes of free time. While Nick dressed, he grasped the bar soap in his paw. Nobody noticed he had stolen it. But it was just what he needed. It was still wet and pliable from the shower, but still quite useful. He went back to his room. He threw the soap it in his dresser drawer and retreated back to his bed, even starting to cherish the comfort of actually being on a bed of some sort.

Now just to wait until lunch. He'd be out by early afternoon.

As a matter of fact, he and everyone else would be out at that same time.

Just not in the way he had planned.

Judy tried her best to control her breaths as she and Q pulled into the parking lot of a large steel building with large windows. "ZDD" hung from above the glass doors of the establishment. Q maneuvered the car into a parking space and shut off the engine. "This is it. DedSec."

"Globally known as the ZDD." She put her paw on the door. "You ready?"

"DZ? Report," Q said into a communicator on the dashboard.

"Active and standing by."

"Ten four." He shut off the communicator. "I'll be as ready as I'll ever be." Judy opened her door when he opened his, and Q locked the car when Judy stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the building. Q let Judy in first, eyes darting around the entrance and the lobby as they entered. It was slightly cooler inside than outside. Judy gave a false smile, not that it was busy, but that in another room could be Marco.

Q walked up to the desk. A bunny wearing a pink dress, a large pair of purple hoop earrings, and a blue pearl necklace looked up from her computer, her paws still set on the keys. "Good morning. How may I help you?"

Q nodded furtively to Judy. "We're here to speak to a manager."

"He's busy." She looked back at her computer and typed for a few seconds.

"This is extremely important."

"We have an inspection to make," Judy said.

"Under what authority?" the rabbit said, standing up. She stepped back when Judy held up her badge. "All right, all right. I'll get the manager." She sat back down and held a phone to her ear. "Yes, Mr. Hoppaway? We have two inspectors in the lobby…" She looked up at them. "Why, yes, they do." She smiled, said something, then set the phone down. "Sit down a moment—Mr. Hoppaway will be with you soon."

When she and Q sat down, Judy said, "How is Marco back? We arrested him a few days ago."

"They bailed him." He breathed out. "Two point seven million."

"When's the trial?"

"There isn't one. They threatened to sue the state if they didn't drop Marco's charges."

"Oh." She looked up when the rabbit spoke.

"Sir and Ma'am, Mr. Hoppaway is ready to see you now."

Q and Judy stood up and walked over to the counter. Marco emerged from the back room and took a step back. "Judy! What are you doing here?"

"I'm inspecting."

Q cut Marco off. "May we discuss this elsewhere?"

Marco glared at Judy. "All right. Follow me." Q and Judy walked around the counter to the hallway, and Marco pushed open a door labeled "A," then closed the door behind them. "What exactly are you doing here? And who is this?" He gestured to Q.

"Major Boothroyd." He held up a badge. "ZRDD, private part-time investigator. I represent the ZIA in this matter."

Marco stepped forward. "Get out of my building. I'll call security."

"I need to ask you a few questions, then we'll leave."

Marco looked at the two mammals and sighed. "Sit down." He gestured to the conference table at the middle of the room. Marco sat in one chair on one side of the table, and Judy and Q sat in adjacent seats across from him. "Let's get going."

"I understand your organization is illegally containing vulpine mammals. Foxes."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't lie, Marco Hopps. Tell us, do you have any employee named Will Jackrabbit?"

"I do."

Q pushed a piece of paper forward, turning it so Marco could read it. "Can you explain this? The paper contains the full report of this employee. He kidnapped Nick."

Marco scoffed and ripped the paper in half, right down the middle.

Q held up his wristwatch and stood up. "Code purple. I repeat, we have a code purple."

A smashing sound followed ten seconds of silence, and a muffled voice exploded from outside the room. "This is the police! All employees, evacuate the facility at once!"

Marco stood up. He expected Judy and Q to be in front of him, but they were gone. Three officers marched into the room, guns leveled at Marco. "You're done, Mr. Hoppaway. Paws over your head."

DedSec Containment, Nick's Cell, 10:45 a.m.

The door creaked open, casting a beam of light on the wall. Nick's silhouette was curled up next to the wall on top of a bed. It suddenly shifted, and Judy took a step back. Her face was stained with happy tears. She approached the sleeping fox and silently looked at him. She cradled his knees with her left arm, her right arm cradled under his back. She sent all the power to her biceps and lifted him off the bed, cradling him in her arms like a baby.

His eyes fluttered open, and he looked into Judy's eyes. "This is an extremely lucid dream. But I'm enjoying it. You're at home, crying your little guts out..." His eyes widen as reality struck him. "Wait. Is this real?"

She laughed. "Yes, silly."

He let her hold him for a little more, then he sat up and lowered his feet to the ground. He got a real look at her, and they hugged, then she planted a long kiss on his lips, and for at least twenty seconds left it that way. He teared up and smiled as best as he could for a fox that felt many emotions at once. He held her to his chest.

There it was, the same scent, the same feeling. She snuggled her head in his ribcage and broke down once again. He held her, minutes passing. They separated. She then got a good look at him: He wore an ugly two-piece jumpsuit. His fur atop his head was a mess, and his ears looked scraggly and disorderly.

"Let's get out of here," Nick said softly, holding his paw out. Judy took it, and he led her outside.

"Can I get my actual clothes on?" He said before they departed up the stairs. He looked down at his clothes and scoffed, pretending to gag. "I think it's growing mold."

Nick left for a moment and returned, wearing the same clothes from the night before: a yellow Hawaiian dress shirt, a tan pair of slacks, and his striped red and blue tie. They went back up the stairs, their paws interlocked.

"Hey," she said as they crossed the disorderly lobby. "What's that?" She pointed to the contraption on his arm.

"Oh, they put it on my arm when I got there. It supports my arm whenever I use it, so my arm works now. But I don't know why they did it."

They never did figure out why DedSec was so generous.

Judy stuck a key into the door and pushed it open. She breathed in a waft of gingerbread as she stepped in. The house was spotless, and the Christmas tree stood as it was. Nick crossed the living room and sat down, and Judy sat nearby, hugging him again. "Thank you, Nick."

"Oh, bunnies, so emotional." He smiled and returned her hug. He looked up when the doorbell rang. "Oh, I'll get it." He stood up and took the door handle, then pulled it open. "Hey, Fluff, come see this."

A large basket filled with items sat in the middle of the porch. Judy snuggled into his side, looking at it. "Isn't that sweet?" She stepped down and picked it up. "Look at all this stuff." She brought it inside and set it down on the floor next to the tree. Nick joined her on the floor and lifted a bottle from the basket. "Sparkling apple cider." His eyes widened, and he reached over to the basket. "Two bottles." He smirked. "Too bad it isn't champagne."

She hit his ribcage and took out the rest of the items. "Blueberry scented candle, one-hundred-dollar Zamazon gift card…" She lifted a box. "…chocolate…"

He lifted the last item. "I can share this with you." He turned it over. "Seven feet by seven feet. And it's orange and blue."

"Our duo colors."

Nick set down the folded blanket and lifted a card from the basket, then ran his claw through the letter and removed a piece of folded paper. "To Nick and Judy: We wish you a Merry Christmas. We know you're going through some trouble right now, so we'd love to cheer you up. We enjoy you in our neighborhood. Sincerely, Your Friends."

"They're anonymous?" Judy asked.

"Anonymous or not, they were very generous." He looked back at the basket. "Wait a minute."

"What?"

He reached inside and quickly lifted something out, holding it over them.

It was a green, leafy plant with white berries; and a red silk bow tied at the stem. "You dumb fox," Judy said.

He smiled. "Sly bunny. Merry Christmas."

She playfully hit his shoulder. "Let's go light that candle."

"Don't forget the chocolate," Nick said, holding it up.

"I won't."

Hey, everyone, I'm glad you could bear with me through these edits. I'll be regularly checking this for errors, but there will be no more content-based editing on this story. Hopefully you've enjoyed the wonderful year we've had together, and I wish you well as 2019 approaches within the next few hours. Please, enjoy yourselves, and don't forget the chocolate. Or whatever else you're having for the new year.

Sayonara!