The blueberry effect - Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 - NICHOLAS PIBERIUS WILDE


Epidemic: an outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time


The sound of a powerful engine broke the silence of the quiet night.
The headlights shredded the darkness in front of the fast moving vehicle while, inside, a couple of mammals were having a heated discussion.
"Carrots! Slow down!"
"No way! You heard Bogo! We need to get at the ZPD as fast as we can!"
"We will not go anywhere if we crush against a wall at the first turn!"
Judy relaxed a little her foot, reducing the pressure on the gas pedal. Silence fell, only the quiet humming of the car barely audible behind the bulletproof glass.
Minutes passed. Judy decided to break the silence.
"Do you think it is related?"
"What?"
"What we have seen. Bellwether. Do you think it is related to the reason Bogo called us?"
"I don't really know. Sure it is a strange case by itself. The clean knife, no external wounds..."
"Yes, and that ferret said she collapsed before he could do anything. But all that blood... And she was barely breathing when the paramedics arrived."
"Well, I think w- WATCH OUT CARROTS!"
Judy brought the car to a screeching halt, barely avoiding the impact with a speeding ambulance. The vehicle disappeared as quickly as it came, the siren sound lost in the distance.
"It's the third one tonight. Carrots, I think we need to hurry up. Step on the gas, Carrots."


The fox and the rabbit entered the desert station. The only other mammal present was a rather corpulent cheetah. Still in civil clothes, he was panting heavily and sweating profusely.
"Finally... you are the last... ones..." he took a big breath "...let's go to the bullpen."


The room was crowded. Half the mammals there, like Clawhauser, had not got the time to change clothes.
Many of them bore the sign of lack of sleep on their faces, some were putting all their efforts in trying to stay awake. The aroma of coffee was strong in the air.
Judy and Nick had just enough time to sit that the door of the bullpen shot open.
The large water buffalo crossed with large strides the space that separated him from the central desk, his presence alone able to reinstate some vigor in the tired cops. He dropped a huge pile of papers on the desk and looked around the room. Once he was sure to have everyone's attention Bogo began:
"I see no one is missing. Good."
"I called you because we have quite a situation."
They knew. The red alert was used only in the most extreme cases.
"We are receiving call after call from Downtown, specifically from the Otterdam zone. Mammals are falling ill left and right and the number of cases increases by the minute. We don't know if this is another terroristic act like the Nighthowler attacks or something else, but we need to stop it from spreading in other zones of the city."
Judy looked at Nick. Well, at least the ambulances were explained.
"Speaking of the Nighthowler attacks, I'll let you know that the escapee Dawn Bellwether has been apprehended by the agents Hopps and Wilde. She is now secured in hospital close to here, since she also seems to have the symptoms of this mysterious illness. Hopps, Wilde did you touch her without any sort of protection?"
Judy remembered. She did it by the manual, donning the standard gloves, in order not to tamper with any possible evidence. And Nick? He arrived after her to the scene, and he always kept some distance.
"No sir" answered Judy.
"Good. We still don't know the means of infection, so we need to be careful. But, at least, we know some symptoms: headache, stomach ache and panic attacks. When it progresses, there is hemoptysis-"
"Hemowhat?" asked a voice in the back.
"Coughing blood. When an infected individual reaches this stage, they find themselves in a life threatening situation. We have already lost ten mammals in the last three hours. So, if you think you have only a single one of these symptoms, you must stop everything you are doing and call the emergency number, do you understand?"
Bogo took the following silence as a quiet approval.
"Now you all know the rough outline. As you can see, this is a state a true emergency, so we have to quarantine the entire zone. You will work in pairs. Every squad will have a precise zone to patrol. We don't want anyone exiting their home and stroll around the streets, not until the state of emergency is lifted.
Higgins you will work with Fangmeyer. Your zone is the northern part, near Peak Street.
Snarlov, Wolford, your zone..."
In the matter of minutes all of the ZPD was dispatched, the patrol cars quickly moving to precise points in the city.


"How nice of the Chief to let you stay together with me, Carrots."
"Probably because there was no one else able to endure your constant stream of witty remarks."
Nick brought a paw close to his chest.
"You hurt me! I'll let you know that I can be a quiet fox! Try me!"
"Ten minutes. Ten minutes and I will buy you lunch today."
"Deal."


Nick looked at the watch. Damn, only two minutes had passed.
Judy was shouting in the car-mounted megaphone, intimating the population of Zootopia to stay in at home.
Soooo boring.
"C-" Nick stopped himself, biting his tongue.
Judy looked at the fox in the passenger seat. "Did you say something?"
He vigorously shook his head.
Judy looked at him with a smug grin. "Good." She turned back to the megaphone.
Nick turned to the window instead. The streetlights were moving fast behind the glass, leaving behind a luminous trail, like a shower of falling stars. They were passing now on Otterdam's bridge, the river below shining like a silvery snake. Nick yawned and looked and looked at the running water. Or, better, where the river should have been. Because now, in front of him, there were only buildings.
"I can't believe it" muttered Judy "you have been able to keep your mouth shut for ten minutes! Well, I guess I owe you lunch."
Confused, Nick looked at his watch. It was true. Ten minutes had passed.


Thump.
The sound of the car's door closing traveled through the Nick's cranium like a lightning bolt, switching on all the pain receptors in his tour through the poor fox's brain.
It was roughly half an hour that a sudden pain had took hold of Nick's head, gripping it like a vice. No doubt caused by the lack of sleep, like the sudden nap before.
So he told Judy to stop and make a quick break for some coffee.
They began walking to the closest open bar, the pain in Nick's head increasing at every step.
Thump. Thump.
Not even the padding of his paws could lessen the surge of pain he was getting every time his feet made contact with the asphalt.
Suddenly his paw began sinking into the road, the blacktop liquefying more and more. He desperately grasped the nearest lamp post, trying to extract his body from the liquid sludge. The buildings all around him began contorting in grotesque shapes, the sky above substituted by an amorphous mass of bricks and cement.
He tried to scream, but no sound left his mouth.
And then, as fast as it came, it all disappeared.
He was once again on the road, the normal, solid road. And Judy was looking at him with an apprehensive expression.
"Is everything all right, Nick? You began moving around in a rather... frantic way."
"It's...it's all right, Carrots. Probably a drop in blood sugar. I didn't get to eat those donuts, they disappeared..."
"Yes, yes, disappeared in your stomach!" said Judy as she jokingly punched the fox.
Nick didn't feel the usually quite heavy punch.
He could only fell himself falling, his body crumbling like a papier-mâché doll.
Darkness took possession of his vision as a metallic taste filled his mouth.