When the heaviness in your paws reaches its peak, it seems the only right decision in that situation is to collapse somewhere.
Preferably onto something soft.
The main thing is to get to your “burrow.” And fall asleep.
Fall into a wonderful, deep sleep, so strong and so glorious.
Heaviness brings fatigue with it.
These two, seemingly close concepts at first glance, differ radically.
One leads to the other.
But it all comes down to one thing.
Heaviness brings an unbearable desire to lie down and sleep, restoring strength.
And from fatigue, your eyes start to droop, and your mouth involuntarily opens in a yawn.
You do everything possible not to fall asleep on the spot.
You hold on with your last bit of strength.
You count the minutes until the end, catching yourself thinking that you’re falling asleep again from the process.
You shake your head to snap out of it quickly.
And even coffee doesn’t help anymore.
There’s still so much work ahead.
And it has to be finished, no matter what.
And only the sweet feeling that sooner or later it will all be over and you’ll finally rest gives you strength.
You’ve definitely earned that rest.
Finally, you’re free.
The workday is over.
You’re happy.
And everything is fine.
Only the dull, constant aching pain throughout his body does everything to sadden this glorious moment.
And so, putting all of this into one body of a tired red fox, you get an approximate state of Nicholas Wilde.
All these feelings could be read on his face and in his posture.
He stood, paws down, slightly hunched, with a tired look; he even felt like he was swaying slightly from side to side.
The only thing that didn’t cause him pain was complete stillness.
Nick stood near the main entrance to the central Zootopia Police Department.
He slowly turned his head to the right; a crack sounded in his neck.
The same thing happened when he did this action in the opposite direction.
He felt better.
Trying to cheer himself up somehow, he thought sarcastically: “Who would have thought paperwork could be so hard.” Nick smiled slightly; it was good that this movement didn’t cause him pain.
He took his phone out of his pocket; the time read 11:35 PM.
There was an unpleasant twinge in his elbow.
Their shift was over.
Nick sighed and looked ahead.
It was dark.
The square in front of the police department was empty and deserted.
You couldn’t even imagine the bustle it had been filled with all day.
There were more reporters and simple onlookers than all the police officers in Zootopia.
The beams of the streetlights illuminating the square glowed with a pleasant, warm light.
For complete idyll, only the chirping of crickets and other insects was missing.
But these sounds came from far away from the huge metropolis.
Instead, in the metropolis, there was a barely perceptible hum.
Or maybe it was already humming in Nick’s head.
He never figured it out.
Well, also the sounds of car horns, driving somewhere deep in the depths of Zootopia.
Nick looked at all this and felt good at heart.
He didn’t quite understand why.
They had tried to kill him since morning, threatened to fire him, gassed him, taunted him, threw him around in a truck like a doll, not to mention the pile of useless documents he had to sift through.
And all for three green forms.
And, oddly enough, he felt moral satisfaction, despite all the fatigue.
That joy he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Pride in his work.
Not to mention the reception his colleagues gave him on his first day.
Nick smirked again, catching himself thinking that no one really understood that, for all intents and purposes, it was he who helped the entire hostage rescue operation.
He made the crocodile believe his bluff, and only because of that did Harry Drago make the fatal mistake with the dynamite, splitting it into smaller bundles.
And only because of that was Judy able to engage in a desperate fight with the crocodile.
And you know what?
Nothing!
No applause, no invitations to appear on television — none of that happened.
Not even a simple “Good job, Nick!” or “Way to go, Nick, you got him good!” The smile disappeared from Nick’s face, and he sadly lowered his eyes.
Even the freed animals didn’t thank him.
They didn’t even know that he had contributed to their release more than anyone else.
The red fox snorted under his breath, as if laughing at himself and his thoughts.
This wasn’t how he imagined working in the police.
He was saddened until he heard Judy’s cheerful words: “And here’s our hero!” Judy came out of the station and approached Nick.
“Modest, standing all alone,” she continued cheerfully, although Nick could hear the tiredness in her voice, “like a true hero, he asks for neither money, nor glory, nor attention.
The mysterious protector of Zootopia.” Judy got so carried away that she even swept her paws through the air like a magician, showing all the mystery of the situation.
Nick turned to her.
His neck cracked again.
“Smart and cunning, he’s like metal,” Judy continued to ironically praise her partner, and at the end of her words, she lightly hit him on the shoulder.
In a friendly way.
From such a light blow, the “smart, cunning, and metallic protector of Zootopia” winced in pain.
“Ow,” Nick said, clutching his shoulder with his paw.
“Oh, oh,” Judy immediately realized her mistake and started apologizing, “sorry.
Does it hurt a lot?” Nick smiled in response; the pain subsided as quickly as it had come.
“It’s okay, it’ll heal,” Nick smiled back, signaling that he wasn’t angry, “I heard you were also an indestructible protector of the city.
And modest too.” Nick continued playing her “game” and lightly hit Judy on the shoulder.
In a friendly way.
“Ow,” Judy squeaked quietly and grabbed her shoulder.
Now it was Nick’s turn to apologize.
“Sorry, sorry,” Nick said anxiously, his words filled only with kindness and concern, “I honestly didn’t know…” “Even?” Judy smiled.
She extended her small paw forward.
Nick looked at her paw, which she had extended as a sign of friendship, then his gaze fell on the rabbit’s cute face.
Her violet eyes looked at him.
They were slightly narrowed, a playful smile visible on her face.
“Even,” Nick replied, smiling, agreeing to Judy’s playful truce.
He extended his red paw for a pawshake.
Afraid of causing each other pain, they gently shook paws.
Judy stood next to him, casting a glance at the night city.
They stood under the huge canopy of the police station building.
Two animals, tired, exhausted, beaten, but pleased with themselves, they looked out at nighttime Zootopia.
A cold breeze swept across the square.
“Well, we just have to get home,” Judy said, shivering from the gust of cold wind.
“I think that’ll be the easiest part of the mission,” Nick rejoiced and took a step forward, down onto the step.
A drop of rain fell on his forehead, now unprotected by the building’s canopy.
He looked up and extended his palm.
His hope that it was just one insignificant drop of water quickly faded.
A light drizzle began.
“Probably just a light rain,” he assured Judy.
Lightning flashed.
And, as if on command from an invisible general, the gates of heaven opened, and from there, like an avalanche, rain poured onto the streets of Zootopia.
Nick immediately retreated back.
The rain fell like a waterfall.
Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled.
“I spoke too soon,” Nick said, “do you have an umbrella?” “No.
And I’m afraid it wouldn’t help here anyway,” Judy replied sadly, looking at the wall of water.
Another lightning bolt.
Nick involuntarily stepped back, watching the storm rage.
Thunder.
Judy flinched and grabbed Nick’s paw.
The red fox immediately felt Judy’s body giving him its warmth.
How fast her heart was beating.
Judy instantly came to her senses and jumped back from Nick’s paw to her spot, letting him go.
She was awkwardly embarrassed, as if Nick had caught her doing something shameful.
“Scared?” he asked quietly.
He watched the little rabbit lower her eyes, trying not to look into his.
She was so uncomfortable that Nick had seen her like this.
Such a scaredy-cat.
The cold wind swept through the downpour again, blowing icy cold over them both.
Judy felt cold; she lied to him, a little embarrassed, in a slightly shivering voice: “Not a bit.” Nick knew she was bluffing.
He smiled, easily noting to himself that her touch was even kind of cute and pleasant.
The rain continued to pour down on the streets of Zootopia.
Thick clouds covered the sky, lightning flashed constantly, and thunder rumbled.
You involuntarily think that this is exactly the kind of weather they make horror movies in.
The cold rain, falling from the clouds, weakened a little, but continued to bring cold with it.
“Well, shall we risk it?” Judy said cheerfully, having plucked up a little courage.
“Risk it?” Nick didn’t understand.
“With what?” The downpour, having struck once, loosened its grip a little and became quieter.
“Go ahead, Nick,” Judy shouted and cheerfully rushed down the steps, “we can make it to the next shelter.” “Can’t we just wait it out here?” Nick called out.
“We could,” Judy’s voice came from afar, “but then Chief Bogo will make you work the night shift!” That was a compelling argument for Nick.
He cast aside all reluctance and quickly ran down the steps after Judy.
His paw quickly got wet.
The rain, though it had subsided, was still pouring like from a bucket, soaking his uniform through.
His paws froze a little from the cold puddles.
But it passed quickly.
The hot asphalt, which had absorbed the heat all day, quickly gave its warmth to the water.
And with each step, Nick’s paws sank into the warm puddles on the square.
“Catch up, Nick, or it’ll start pouring harder,” Judy shouted to him.
She was hiding under a small gazebo at the edge of the parking lot.
She teased him playfully, “Run, fox, run.” Nick glanced up at the clouds.
Lightning flashed.
He quickened his run through the warm puddles.
“Damn, just like a little kid,” Nick said, breathing heavily.
It suddenly seemed to him that they were skipping out of school after the last lesson to have fun jumping in puddles.
The huge puddles that had collected in his path splashed cheerfully in all directions from Nick’s fast run.
Thunder.
And again the gates of the firmament opened, giving everyone another blow of the elements.
Nick made it just in time.
He coughed a couple of times and tried to catch his breath.
The acrid smoke would remind him of itself for a long time.
“I take it you never learned to walk?
Huh?” he joked, holding onto the gazebo post with one paw.
“Attaboy, Nick,” Judy praised him.
“So, we wait for the next lull and then head for the subway.” “Yeah,” Nick said, still trying to catch his breath, “I was just think—” Nick fell silent as a bright beam from a car’s headlights hit him.
It appeared in an instant — and vanished just as fast.
Nick squinted, trying to see where the light was coming from.
But before he could make out anything in the darkness, a convoy of cars suddenly emerged from behind the trees that lined the road not far from them.
Judy also turned her gaze toward them.
The convoy was approaching quickly, and very soon, under the bright flashes of lightning, it sped past Nick and Judy along the road.
The headlight beams illuminated them briefly, blinding them.
The first car disappeared around the bend, followed by a huge armored truck, and a police jeep brought up the rear.
Judy watched the cars go with a sad look.
Nick interrupted her: “As I was saying…” Thunder.
And again Judy flinched.
But this time she held back and didn’t throw herself at Nick’s paw to hug it.
“Come on, Nick, we’ll make it!” she shouted to her partner, not letting him finish.
The rain had let up a little again, creating a “window” for the two animals.
“What?” Nick protested, then praised her wearily but with affection: “How much energy do you have in you?” He had no choice but to dash off after Judy.
Crossing the road, he turned right onto the sidewalk.
Puddles of warm water splashed cheerfully under their paws.
Judy veered off and dove into the subway.
The very same one Nick had come out of that morning, full of the most conflicting emotions.
And even now, running into the underground passage after his partner, those strange feelings didn’t leave him.
Feelings of complete uncertainty and apprehension that he wanted to run away from.
But every time he stopped when he heard Judy’s voice.
What calmed him was that she was next to him.
It was strange for Nick.
And he needed time to figure out what was driving him: friendship, attachment, or something more…
Catching up with Hopps, Nick filled his lungs with more air and exhaled quietly and calmly.
“Judy, we could have just called a taxi,” he said hastily, and immediately caught himself realizing he had no money on him.
And he simply couldn’t borrow from Judy.
“Better to walk,” he thought to himself, and pride stirred within him, “I’ll keep a little dignity.” “Right,” Hopps replied, “I didn’t even think of that.” She was so happy she even pulled her phone out of her pocket, hoping to call a taxi.
“Right,” she said to herself, remembering his situation, “I completely forgot.
Sorry, my head’s just…” She fell silent, trying to find the right words.
“Well, no big deal, the subway it is,” Nick said, trying to correct his unintended mistake and agreeing, then continued in a gentle, encouraging voice: “Overworked, probably, it happens, thoughts get jumbled and your head just doesn’t work.” Judy nodded her head quietly in agreement.
She really was tired; she hadn’t even thought that she could call from Nick’s phone.
Despite the many privileges of the ZPD, travel on any form of transport except personal and official vehicles wasn’t included in that list.
Not that Nick was terribly upset about it, but, as they say, it left a residue in his soul.
Or maybe it was his con-man nature, formed over many years of his not-so-honest life, stirring up a feeling of injustice in him.
But one way or another, no matter how hard Nick tried, he couldn’t overcome himself in such a short time and get rid of that feeling.
Drip.
A drop of water fell onto the granite floor once again.
The sound echoed through the nearly empty subway station.
It was a fairly large station.
And very tall.
It was one of the very first built, when Zootopia had grown from a small town into a huge metropolis.
Back then, its builders and engineers hadn’t fully thought through all the nuances for every type of animal.
And so, after a couple of unfortunate accidents with giraffes, the station ceilings had to be raised significantly.
There was another plus to this: they started saving on broken chandeliers.
The station had been reworked and modernized many times.
Not to mention what had been done with the cars.
Originally, it was planned that the cars would be different, for different species of animals.
But that turned out to be an exorbitantly expensive project.
Then the cars were divided into sections.
There were two types — cars with two sections and cars with three, for different sizes of inhabitants.
Cars with two sections had sections for large and medium-sized inhabitants, and for small and very small inhabitants.
Cars with three sections had sections for large, medium, and small, and very small.
This improved the situation a bit.
But it didn’t change the budget much.
There were proposals to introduce separate “miniature” trains for small animals.
But that idea was also rejected, due to the huge number of small animals and the additional complexity in the train and station network itself.
And, as always, the solution was found by accident.
It was so brilliant that the engineers were amazed they hadn’t thought of it before.
It was…
Drip.
The quiet splash of a drop sounded again.
Some of the animals that roamed Zootopia at night were giving Nick sidelong glances.
Drip-drip.
The echo spread through the entire hall again, amplifying the sound.
The zebra standing near Nick and Judy snorted in displeasure.
Quietly, though, under her breath.
She hadn’t finished reading the sign hanging on one of the columns.
The inscription read “History of the Zootopia Metro and Stations.” Nick stood next to Judy, waiting for the train.
Water dripped from the fox’s uniform, forming a small puddle around him.
Judy looked at him with a sympathetic gaze.
Her uniform easily repelled water, keeping her dry, unlike the standard fox’s gear.
Sensing her guilt, she said shamefully: “Sorry.
Again.” “Well, it’s not the first time I’ve been soaked to the bone with you,” Nick said jokingly, but still sternly.
He remembered their desperate escape from Cliffside through the sewer pipe and continued: “And something tells me it won’t be the last.” Judy smiled, remembering those times.
Yes, of course, they hadn’t been in a laughing mood then.
But now it all felt like a fun adventure that had brought them closer.
Trying to cheer him up at least a little, she took a small step to the side and stood next to him in the puddle.
“What are you doing?” Nick asked, not understanding her actions.
Judy took another “awkward” step toward him and took his paw.
“I was just thinking…” Nick began, smiling.
“What?” Judy yawned.
She squeezed his paw tighter and gently leaned her head against him.
The clock face counted down the minutes and seconds until the train’s arrival.
“Is your phone completely broken?” “Yeah, it just won’t turn on.” “How about we head to the city center tomorrow?
I’ll show you a place, it’s called the ‘Shopping Oasis,’ we’ll relax and get you a new phone.
We’ll walk around.
In short, we’ll unwind.
We don’t have to be heroes every day.” Judy’s drowsiness involuntarily vanished.
“Okay,” she agreed quickly, not even having time to think about the offer.
Her agreement was so spontaneous and sincere that it would have been awkward for Judy to refuse.
She didn’t want to hurt Nick.
Nick held out his phone to her and said: “Here, take it.” “Oh no, Nick,” Judy refused, letting go of his paw.
She shook her head, making a sad face.
“I can’t accept it.
Don’t even ask, I…” Nick chuckled softly at her flustered look: “Carrots, don’t worry, it’s not a gift.
I’ll call you on it and we’ll arrange to meet.
Because yours is broken.
You really have been overworking yourself.
You just need to rest.
Besides, tomorrow’s your day off.” Judy smiled tiredly in response and took Nick’s phone.
Maybe he was right, she needed to rest.
“Only,” she said, taking his paw again, “let’s do it after lunch.
At least we’ll get some sleep.” The train raced through the black tunnel.
It swayed from side to side.
Nick sat, staring at one point.
In the empty car, he looked at his reflection again.
Next to him, the rabbit Judy had dozed off.
She was hugging him.
Nick mentally counted the stations.
The train carried them deep into the depths of Zootopia.
It carried them into tomorrow.
To a place where there was only joy and light.
To a place where they were together.