Nick’s pinky finger, the one that had been twitching a second earlier, froze in place.
A smile bloomed on the fox’s face.
Nick turned toward the familiar voice and, as if forgetting all his torments, cheerfully replied to his partner: “Greetings to the best cop in Zootopia.” “Well, you’re exaggerating,” the rabbit replied modestly.
“By the way, you look great!
Let’s go, or we’ll be late.” Judy Hopps said the last words as she walked around the fox from the side and headed toward the main entrance of the police station.
Nick watched her go.
All his doubts vanished at the sight of his partner’s cheerful and relaxed smile.
Dressed in her police uniform, she walked forward with a happy step, waving a paw at Nick, and he followed her.
All doubts fell away; he sighed with relief.
Near the very entrance to the ZPD, it was always lively, especially during shift changes, when the night watch handed over duties to the day watch.
Using the different characteristics of animals, such as nocturnal or diurnal, Zootopia’s administration selected work hours to match their lifestyles.
In his time, Mayor Lionheart had extensively applied such a distribution system.
And it was justified.
Another plus of this system was the rule of voluntary participation; no one was forced to work during the day or night.
The morning shift was taking over from the night shift.
Also, at the morning briefing, patrols were assigned, the plan of operational measures was laid out, patrols, searches, and the assignment of cases for crime investigation were designated.
And much, much more related to police service, from safety briefings to bureaucratic sessions on studying regulatory laws.
And, to be honest, for a freedom-loving fox who had lived half his life without any boundaries, this was a terrible trial.
Judy held up much better; she had gotten used to this lifestyle back at the academy.
Nick tried to stay close to her, and she tried to help him in every way.
But killing the will for anarchy in the fox proved not so easy.
Still, Nick tried his best.
“Now we’ll check in with Clawhauser and then run to the briefing,” Hopps continued.
“By the way, I talked to Chief Bogo, and I think he’ll agree to keep us as partners until you’ve learned the ropes.” Hopps spoke the last words slowly and quietly, as if thinking about something.
Nick followed her, all this time keeping his paws crossed behind his back, listening to her with a barely noticeable smile.
The pause Judy made at the last words was reflected in her eyes as great surprise when Clawhauser’s spot turned out to be empty.
Coming closer, Hopps looked around, rising on her tiptoes, but the good-natured donut lover was not behind the counter.
“Strange…” Judy whispered.
“U-uh…
Judy?” Nick said, pointing toward the office where the morning briefing was usually held.
Hopps instantly looked in that direction and immediately understood that something big, something significant was happening.
For Nick, what happened next was like a police action movie.
Rushing with all his might, the full-cheetah Clawhauser, driven by Chief Bogo’s loud shouts, ran to his desk, his tongue hanging out to the side.
Behind him, as if on cue from an invisible director, a commotion began.
The entire police station was turned upside down in about five seconds.
By the time Clawhauser reached his workstation, a capture team of wolves, a couple of colleagues in full gear, a group of signalmen, and many, many others had run past him.
“Clawhauser!” Judy shouted, running toward the cheetah, trying to get closer without interfering with the operatives running past him.
“Clawhauser, what happened?
What’s going on?” Out of breath, barely moving his paws, the cheetah still managed to say with difficulty: “Hopps, Wilde, your third car.
Urgent matter — the chief will fill you in on the way.
Destination — the third branch of Lemur Bank, move it!” “Let’s go!” Judy exclaimed and, grabbing the fox, who was stunned by all the commotion, by the paw, ran toward the service vehicle parking lot.
Like streams of water in a heavy downpour filling a riverbed, so did the police officers fill the corridors leading to the central garage.
From there, they were distributed into groups and quickly got into cars, heading to the crime scene with the loud noise of sirens.
Our heroes were in this whirlwind as well.
Judy, deftly maneuvering among the paws of her colleagues, made her way to her car.
Nick, sliding along the wall in this stream, thought everything around him resembled a mad, chaotic whirlwind of animals.
The last thing he managed to say to his partner before the stream carried her to the car was: “Where are you going, Jude?
We’ll get crushed!” But to his surprise, Judy was not only unharmed but also not out of breath, and now, happy, she sat behind the wheel of the car entrusted to her.
“Nick, what’s taking you so long?” she urged him on.
Not making her wait, the fox jumped into the adjacent front seat and closed the door.
Surprisingly, exactly three clicks of the door closing sounded.
Judy’s gaze fell on the rearview mirror, in the reflection of which two wolves were visible.
Dressed in full combat readiness with tranquilizer rifles, they had loaded in at the same second as Nick.
Their gaze was calm and purposeful.
Such an expression on wolves’ faces can only be seen when the hunter’s instinct awakens in them.
“Hey!” Nick exclaimed, buckling up and turning to the wolves.
“We’ve got backup, ready for the hunt, boys?!” The wolves exchanged meaningful glances, then looked at the fox.
“The wolves are ready,” Nick continued jokingly and, turning to the rabbit, put on large dark glasses and continued.
“Let’s roll, Jude.” Clouds of smoke instantly rose from under the car’s wheels, filling part of the garage.
The police car roared as it took off.
Entering the narrow garage gate, it made a sharp arc through the parking lot and, rapidly gaining speed, rushed after the others.
A whole column of police cars sped through the city of Zootopia, emitting a loud roar of sirens and attracting the attention of curious onlookers.
The column consisted of five patrol cars, one of which contained our heroes.
At the head were two jeeps led by Chief Bogo, and the formation was closed by a bus with special forces and a truck with technicians.
The sound of the sirens and the huge sight of the jeeps scattered civilian traffic to the sides.
The column’s speed increased, and Judy’s paw pressed harder and harder on the gas.
When the car took sharp turns, everyone inside was thrown left and right.
If such shaking didn’t bother the steady wolves at all, Nick had to hold on with all his limbs to anything he could reach.
His dark glasses had long since fallen off his nose and were rolling around somewhere in the cabin.
Judy was so absorbed in driving that she didn’t even notice how, with her height, she practically had to hang in the air during particularly sharp maneuvers.
Everything flashed by outside the window, and when the handset flew off the radio and, as if in slow motion, flew past the surprised fox, Nick thought: “Damn, it would be great to get to the crime scene without getting into an accident.” “Red Leader to Red Three,” hissed the microphone.
“Respond.” To the surprise of the wolves sitting behind, Nick deftly caught the comlink flying past him.
“Three on the line,” he said into the microphone.
“We’re right behind the second car in the column.” “Are Keks and Zerni with you?” Nick involuntarily looked in the mirror at the wolves behind.
In the reflection, he saw imperturbability on their gray faces.
“Yes, Chief, they’re with us,” Nick hastened to reply.
“Good.
So, while we’re on the way, I’ll quickly describe the situation.
At eight-ten, we received a signal about a takeover of the Third Lemur Bank on Leaf Square; the perp, according to the description, is a crocodile.” The wolves in the back seats exchanged glances, and the voice on the radio continued: “He is armed with explosives and has taken hostages.
Our task is to surround the bank, block all escape routes, rescue the hostages, neutralize the criminal.
Clear?” “Clear, Chief!” Judy shouted as she entered another turn.
“Three understood,” Nick repeated.
“One understood,” echoed the radio.
“Two received…
Four understood…
Special forces understood…” Nick was on such an important assignment for the first time.
He tried to act confident and show his best side.
Watching his partner’s polished movements, the calmness of the wolves behind him, he somehow felt like a simpleton and an amateur compared to them.
But shifting his gaze to the determined Judy, Nick gained confidence in himself.
The column of police cars was already approaching Lemur Bank.