Savage City

Day Two: Incoming

By Xan Steel

(Legal Stuff: The Zootopia world and characters belong to Disney and Disney Animation Studios. The story and it's setting belong to me, so please enjoy this work of fan fiction. Also, a word of warning, this story is not for the faint of heart.)

By morning, Nick and Judy had both been called into work, as Clawhauser stated they had received a city-wide threat, and that the Chief needed everyone to come in. Judy called her parents to come and get the kids as they got ready for work. Once the kids left with her parents, they headed over to the precinct and went to the briefing room. They sat down with everyone else as Chief Bogo walked into the room with a tv on a cart and pushed it up near his podium. 

 “Listen up people we have a major crisis on our hands. This was just received by the news network this morning, and they sent us a copy before they air it in the next three hours." He turned to the TV and turned it on as it auto-started a video. As it began to play it started off showing an image of a stylized, black and white Rams head as a female voice begins to speak. 

 “Attention citizens of Zootopia, your time for removing predators from within the city has finally reached an end. I tried to do this nicely the first time, and now you have forced my hand for stronger measures. In twelve hours, I will be releasing a new version of the Night-Howler Serum over the entire city with this version working only on predators. Unless every predator in the city and surrounding areas leave with these twelve hours and never return. Otherwise, this city and its citizens will have to fight for their lives." The video ended as everyone in the room just stared in shock. 

Judy spoke first, "Why does this sound like Bellwether?" 

Bogo replied, "Because it is, this is after doing a voice print analysis to confirm it." 

Delgato spoke up, "Wasn't she put in jail with no chance of parole?" 

McHorn responded, "She had someone on the inside help her escape, and as of this moment we have no idea where she went after leaving the area." 

Wolford questioned McHorn, “Who helped her escape?" 

 “One of our own who has been voicing his opinion on such matters. Turns out that he's been spending a lot of time near her cell listening to her ramblings. Officer Humphrey, a Dik-dik." McHorn finished. 

 “I think I met him once, a bit of a skittish fellow," Nick added to the conversation. 

Bogo spoke again, “Regardless of how it happened, we have roughly twelve hours to get this situation under control and protect our citizens and the city. Since the predator population is much smaller in size we should have no problems getting them to safety." 

Nick looked at him, “You know they are not likely to be happy about leaving their homes, especially if we wind up with looters and rioters." 

 “Nick, you're not suggesting that our prey citizens would actually do something like that, are you?" Judy questioned with a slightly upset tone and look. 

 “You rescued me from the streets, and this is my mind working in survival mode. It doesn't matter what species you are, if you think there is something someone else has that can help you survive longer, then you're going to take it because you need to look out for yourself and/or family." He finished as her looks soften realizing now that he was thinking from a standpoint of when he was on the street. 

 “All right this is how things are going to go down." Bogo started off with. “Each team will patrol an area of the city while making sure that all predators go to nearby shelters in that section of the city. Once there we can bring them to the underground vault shelter here under the ZPD. Once this video airs on the TV and radio stations, I will make a public announcement on what we need the people to do to keep everyone safe during this crisis." Bogo began to hand out the location assignments to each partner team as he dismissed them. He then turned to Nick and Judy, “You two come with me." 

They got up and followed him as he took them to the vault entrance in the holding cells. This section of the building had thirty holding cells of which only ten were currently being used. Humphrey was down here sitting in cell nine mumbling to himself until he saw Nick. “Your time on our city is at an end predator, so you best leave while you can." 

Nick stopped to look at him with a sad face as his ears drooped down. “Tell me something, Humphrey." He began with a soft tone. “What have I ever done to make you hate me?" 

Humphrey was momentarily stunned before he answered. “You're a predator, your kind are always plotting to eat us. So, don't deny it." 

Nick sighed as he hung his head while he turned and walked away to catch up with Judy and Bogo. “You know, I have never once thought of eating someone. I find the idea revolting." He said as Judy took his paw in hers to try and comfort him. 

As they got to cell thirty-one Judy spoke up, "Wait I thought there were only thirty?" 

"There is only thirty," Bogo said as he opened the covered door, revealing a bank-like vault door on the inside. He then went to it and opened it up for them to see. Both Nick and Judy were amazed to see a stairwell that descended a good six hundred meters down. "This is the vault of the ZPD. We can roughly house some two hundred thousand animals here. There is also dry goods, a freshwater system, and an air ventilation system in place." Bogo informed them before continuing, "But, I need to get you both equipped." 

"Equipped?" Both Judy and Nick questioned together. 

They followed Bogo to another area in the vault behind a heavily locked door, and their eyes went wide as Nick's ears went flat and Judy's flopped down when he opened the door. Beyond the door was a vast array of weaponry sitting on rows and rows of shelves, all for different animal types, but each one just as deadly as the next.

"Chief, why do we need these weapons?" Judy asked only because she couldn't understand why they would need them. 

Bogo turned to her with a sigh, "Listen, I'm preparing you both for the worst. Every officer has their own equipment that's registered to them in the event something major happens." He explained as they got to the small weapons section for smaller mammals. He unlocked the cage and swung it open wide. "It's my hope that we don't have to use them, but I'd rather have you equipped just in case things get worse." 

He pulled out two dual holster belts and handed it to the both of them. He waited as they put them on, and then pulled out a pair of tranq guns and handed them over to them to holster. He then pulled out a set of double pouches for them. One pouch was yellow and the other was red in color. "All right listen carefully," he said as he handed them over. "The yellow pouch contains a powerful tranquilizer that will put down anyone quickly. The red pouch contains E-Darts, and should only be used in extreme cases." 

"E-Dart?" Nick asked as Judy asked what the 'E' stood for. 

"Euthanize," Bogo said in a soft voice as his own ears folded back while his eyes gave a sad look. 

"Forgive me but I'm not familiar with that word guys," Judy replied with a confused look. 

Nick turned to her, "It's a drug that puts the target to sleep" he paused for a second, "permanently." He finished while nearly having the same expression as Bogo. 

 “Wait, it… it kills them?" Judy said nervously. 

Bogo replied to her, "While that is technically true, these darts do it gently whereas these," He paused in his speech as he turned around and grabbed a pair of pistols from the rack and then turned back around and handed them over. "Won't be as gentle, as these are simple 9mm handguns and are meant to kill instantly." 

Judy looked back up at Bogo, "These I understand, but do you really think they are necessary?" 

He spoke in a more concerned tone with her, “These are only to be used when you come across overwhelming odds, and not in any other situation." He finished as he handed over a couple of ten round clips to them. He then took them over and got them equipped with protective vests and helmets before heading back to the door. Bogo then went into a control room and started turning on an air purification system, lights, and water systems before leaving the area.

In a lot of ways, Judy felt nervous being fully equipped like this. Even though she herself had never been in war, to her that's what it felt like she was walking into. Nick caught on to her mood change fairly quickly, “Carrots are you okay?" 

 “No for some reason, everything just feels so off, and I can't figure it out to give myself some comfort. I feel like I'm walking into a war zone." She finished as her nose gently twitched. 

Nick turned to Bogo, “Chief can you give us a minute?" 

He nodded and walked over to the front counter as Nick took Judy to an empty room. 

 “This is going to be the hardest time we've ever faced together, and it will likely change us, but I need you to stay focused and to not hesitate on pulling the trigger on any weapon should the need arise," Nick said softly. 

 “That's the thing, I don't want this gun." She said while holding the 9mm up. “Having been in Zootopia now for a good number of years and not needing one of these. Having one now makes me feel like I'm about to commit a crime that has no repercussions," she finished. 

He pulled her into a hug before speaking again. “You don't have to kill the target Carrots. You can use it to slow them down to give yourself time to use the Tranq gun on them." He finished in a more positive tone hoping that it would help her to know that she didn't have to kill. It did help as she returned the hug, and gave a quick bunny kiss to him in thanks while holstering the gun and walking out with him.

It didn't take long for people to panic after the news released the video, but Bogo took charge and explained how things were going to proceed with everyone's help. He wanted everyone to understand that this was an act of terror on an innocent group of animals that were our neighbors, friends, family, and coworkers and that they have been living together in peace all these years. So this was no time to abandon what they had and start attacking. The media, however, wanted to overdramatize it, but Bogo wouldn't let them. 

 “All right that is enough!" His voice boomed in front of everyone at the press conference. “Look I know you're all scared, and frankly I don't blame you, but instead of blowing things out of proportion let's work together to protect all citizens in our fair city, predators, and prey alike." 

A Pig from a local paper spoke up, “How does the ZPD plan to protect everyone if the predators become savage?" 

Bogo looked directly at them and replied, “The ZPD has already begun to mobilize and bring predators into nearby shelters until we can transport them to an underground vault in the ZPD. The reason we are taking the predators is that they represent a small part of the population in Zootopia. Which will make things easier for us, and in turn the prey population." 

It looked as if everyone started to relax until someone asked, “Why are the officers that are on patrol seem to be armed to the teeth if you'll pardon the pun." 

Bogo explained it was to protect the officer and any nearby citizens should the situation get out of control and require more aggressive force to stop it. This made everyone upset because it sounded like he was talking about killing that individual if need be. To which he replied, “It is." He sighed heavily making sure everyone saw it. “Look, I don't like this any more than you do, and believe me when I say; The last thing I want to happen is to harm another animal in a way that would end their life. So the sooner we get them into safe keeping the sooner my officers start figuring out how to put a stop to this attack, hopefully before it begins. So I ask, no, I beg for everyone's help and cooperation in this matter. The more that help the easier this gets." He finished as he began to direct everyone on how they could help out in their own way. He was happy to hear questions on how to help in each suburb of the city and surrounding areas, as he answered them. The media began to pass on the information to their watchers and listeners so they could help out in that area.

Eight hours later and it was finally finished with every predator down in the vault according to the names that were written down, and cross-checked with the police database. They made sure they were as comfortable as possible. Bogo turned to McHorn and began to issue out patrol commands for all teams for him to pass on, while he got both Judy and Nick to search key areas of the city where the attack might take place. He told them to be a thorough as possible but to be quick as he wanted them back at ZPD before the attack.

After three hours of searching and turning nothing up. Nick looked up at the sun as it was setting low for the evening and noticed a few Avians holding something large in their claws. He got out a set of binoculars to get a better look and saw they were carrying an orb like object with what appeared to be shower heads all around. He looked around to see if he could see others, but there were too many buildings. He yelled at Judy to get in the car as he handed Judy the binoculars, and told her what to look for as he drove them back to the precinct. When they got there she had managed to count four groups of Avians with the same orb-like object. The other thing Nick noticed was the lack of a breeze as they headed inside.

Nick and Judy ran inside to tell Bogo what they had discovered, and this is when he informed them that the environmental systems in all the biomes had been sabotaged, and would take a team of engineers days to fix in order to remove what sounded more and more like a gas attack to the city. 

"How? I mean how was she able to hit all the biomes at once like this?" Nick asked. 

"That's the million buck question isn't it," Bogo replied. 

At this point Clawhauser came running in, "Nick sorry this took so long, but I haven't been able to find your mother Marian Wilde on the list." Nicks' eyes went wide as his ears folded back in horror because there were only thirty minutes left before the attack. Bogo disappeared into a side room and came back out holding a pair of gas masks. "Here, take her one and this package of filters. Each filter will last an hour, so make sure you show her how to use it if she refuses to come down here. The other is for you." Nick nodded as Judy yelled back at him to hustle to the patrol car.

They raced through the empty streets to get to his mother in time, and they luckily made it with ten minutes to spare. Nick ran to the door and knocked loudly. 

"Who is it?" He heard her call out. 

"Mom it's me, Nick, I need you to let me in please." He said excitedly. 

"Just a second." As he heard her moving through the little home and as soon as the door opened he gently grabbed her and pulled her inside as Judy closed the door behind them. 

"Nickolas, what's the meaning of handling your mum like this?" She asked stunned with her ears splayed. 

"Sorry, mom but I need to you come down to the precinct with us. The city is about to be attacked with a poisonous gas, and I need to get you to safety," he said in a way that might get her to come down with her. 

She looked at him and saw the deep concern he had for her. "Nickolas my son, I love you dearly, but this is our home. I can't leave it. If I do it might get looted, and there are things in this house I can't replace." 

"There is only one thing in this house I can't replace, and that's you." He said to her while she hugged him tightly. 

"Nickolas I'm old and I'm too tired to move across the city." She could see his expression turn sad. 

"Then please wear this mask until we can make the city safe again." He asked her as he showed her how it worked while putting on his, and how to change out the filters. 

She then asked why Judy didn't have to wear one, and Judy replied with a somber look and voice. "Because the poison only affects predators, ma'am." 

"What about my grandkits?" Marian asked in a shocked tone with her ears folding back remembering that four of them were foxes. 

"My parents took them out to the farm this morning when we got called into work." Marian sighed with relief as she put on the mask and then hugged Nick again while he told her to call him when she needed more filters.

As they left they saw the cloud of blue gas slowly descend on the city, as Nick adjusted his mask to make sure it was secure while heading back to the precinct. Nick worried greatly for his mother and hoped that she would be all right. Once they got back to the precinct Judy received a call from her parents, as she answered Stu appeared on the scene looking worried. "Jude we've had a major theft on the farm." 

"Sorry dad but the city is facing a major threat right now, and I really don't have time to talk." Bogo walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder. 

She could sense him there as she turned to look at him. "Sorry Sir, it's my father." 

"It's all right, I want to hear what's been stolen," he said calmly. 

"Ah Chief," Stu began, "It's all of our Night Howler flowers. We use them to protect the crops from bugs, but they were taken yesterday at some point," he finished nervously.

"How many did you have?" Bogo asked. 

“Ten thousand seven hundred and twenty-three," he replied as a ghastly look came over Bogo. 

"Sir that's enough for at least a months worth of gas, if not more,"  Judy said as her ears dropped down and her eyes went wide in horror, she then turned to Stu. "Dad, get everyone underground just in case this gas gets out to the Burrows," she said in a somewhat commanding tone. 

“If you're talking about that blue cloud in the sky, then it's already out here, and it looks like the whole area is getting covered from whatever is flying up there. Don't worry though everyone is taking shelter and going underground." Judy sighed rather loudly but was relieved to hear him say that as they said their goodbyes while hoping it wasn't their last.

Everyone turned to look out the front windows of the precinct when someone drew their attention, as they all watched the gas finally drift into the street out front letting them know that the city was now blanketed in Night Howler.