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It was cold. But, then, it was always cold in Tundratown. The problem was, Judy hadn’t prepared for the possibility of ending up in Tundratown. She hadn’t prepared for the possibility of chasing a shoplifter from Sahara Central all the way out to Tundratown. It was actually her day off – she had been on her way to meet Nick for coffee when she had witnessed the incident and made the decision to pursue the assailant. Since criminals never took a day off, neither did Judy Hopps.
She could hear Nick’s voice in her head, though – Dumb bunny, what were you thinking? You couldn’t have called the station and let them handle it? No, of course you couldn’t. Geeze, Carrots, why d’you always have to be a hero?
Judy couldn’t help it, though. It was her job to protect and serve; that didn’t just go away when she took off her uniform. It was so cold. Judy couldn’t think. She heard the snow crunching beneath someone’s paws, but she was too weak to call out to them.
Carrots?
Was that Nick? No, she must just be hearing things again.
Carrots? Judy?
She looked up and a blur of orange and green swam in her vision just before the world went dark.
Nick pulled an unconscious Judy out of the snowbank – how she’d gotten stuck there was beyond him. His first instinct was to be angry – she was lucky he was good at tracking, what the hell had she been thinking? Nick knew deep down that the anger was a mask for the worry that had twisted in his stomach when Judy hadn’t shown up at the Snarlbucks. The fear and anxiety tightened in his chest when she didn’t answer her phone. That was when he decided to head in the direction of her apartment.
It wasn’t long before he came upon a clearly distraught antelope standing in front of a boutique clothing store. Officer McHorn and his partner were taking a statement.
“Wilde,” McHorn acknowledged Nick as he approached, “Hopps apparently ran off after a shoplifter.”
Nick sighed a long-suffering sigh, “That explains it. We were supposed to meet for coffee an hour ago, and she’s not answering her phone.”
The antelope spoke up. “I saw her about 45 minutes ago. She asked me what was missing and just took off after him.”
“Which direction did they go?”
The antelope pointed down the street, “But they turned into an alley a couple blocks up. I’m not sure where they went from there.”
“We’re taking this into the station,” said McHorn, “Once we’re done we’ll be in touch.” But Nick had already raced off in the direction the antelope had indicated.
He caught Judy’s scent and followed it, twisting down alleys and busy streets until he got the edge of Tundratown. From there it got trickier, the cold smothering the trail and making Nick shiver. The transition from Sahara Central to Tundratown was always a shock to the system.
Suddenly, the trail picked up again, and Nick ran towards a flash of red on a snowbank at the edge of an empty park. Please don’t be blood, please don’t be blood, please don’t be blood. The mantra repeated over and over in Nick’s mind. As he got closer, the red fluttered in the wind – it was a blouse. Nick stopped, gasping for breath. Then he noticed the small grey paw gripping the red fabric.
“Carrots?” he asked. When there wasn’t any response, he shouted “Carrots? Judy??” The urgency in his voice was unmistakable. The blouse moved and a pair of violet eyes looked up at him briefly, before closing.
Nick pulled Judy out of the snowbank, and held her in his arms. Judy let out a soft sigh and snuggled close to his chest. She still had that damn shirt in her grip. Just as Judy shivered again and tried to burrow into Nick’s shirt, his phone rang. He carefully maneuvered to get his phone out of his pocket, and answered.
“Hello?”
“Nick! We heard that Judy ran after a shoplifter, McHorn says you went looking for her directly from the scene. Have you found her?”
“Clawhauser, Judy needs to get to the –“
“Also, this shop is one that Gazelle shops at! Did you know that? I tried to ask the owner about it but she was really rude, which -”
“CLAWHAUSER. We need an ambulance, I think she’s in shock.”
Nick told the cheetah where they were, and shortly after he hung up the EMTs were taking Judy from his grip and hustling him into the back of an ambulance.
So that was how they ended up here – huddled together at Nick’s desk in the Precinct 1 station, Judy wrapped in a blanket and Nick giving a report to Chief Bogo. Nick had his arm around Judy, who was still shivering.
She had woken up in the ambulance, but had still been a little out of it. After the EMTs had gotten her dried off and given her something to eat and drink, Judy’s ears had perked up and she seemed more alert. Her first concern had been whether the shoplifter had been caught.
Of course that would be what she wanted to know , Nick thought bitterly. Out loud he said, “No, but really Carrots, you’re lucky I found you.”
Judy glared at him, and took a deep breath but then coughed. It was a hacking cough, and it sounded bad. Nick looked at the EMT, who smiled reassuringly at him. “She’ll be fine. We’re actually going to take you back to the Precinct 1 station. Chief Bogo’s orders.”
As Nick spoke with Bogo, he could feel Judy shuffle closer and closer to him. By the time the Chief had all the information he needed, Judy was almost in Nick’s lap.
“Carrots, what are you doing?”
“Mm.. warm.”
“I’m warm? So you’re just stealing my warmth, that’s what’s happening here. You have blankets, you know.”
Suddenly Nick tensed. Judy had wrapped herself up with Nick’s tail. It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation, but it was strange. It just felt different, to have someone be so close. Almost uncomfortable, but not with Judy. Her small body tucked up against his, wrapped in his tail. She was essentially covering herself in his scent, she had to know that.
“Carrots.”
“Hmm wha?” Nick could tell she must be almost asleep. There was no way he could move her now. Or, at least that’s what he told himself.
“Nevermind.”