Sunderance Chapter 13: Part 1 - Glacial Surge (Patreon)

“The DMV?”

Judy really hadn’t intended the question to come out with an amused lilt but she was in a mood that wouldn’t allow her to maintain an entirely professional attitude. At least, not as she walked beside the fox as he led her away from the car. The feeling of uncertainty that trickled through her mind was mostly because of how confused the rest of her emotions seemed to be. She couldn’t decide between abject terror that tempted her nose to twitch every time she looked at him and the pleasant giddiness that set her stomach into excited spins now and then. Their dinner conversation had been the groundwork for something more than what they were now, of that she had no doubt.

Mutual attraction. Glancing at him now as he led her around to the side of the building, she couldn’t deny her own. His expression had returned to the serious, blank and unreadable one that he wore most of the time. He was… A fox. A narrow muzzle, short but sharp ears, angular features, long bodied, lean, ruddy orange fur, large paws tipped with blunt but dangerous claws, and sharp teeth that she saw every time he spoke. He was very un-bunny like. There was nothing about him that looked soft or gentle, though that perception may have been colored by the fact that she’d watched him dismantle a fully grown tiger. He was predatory, every inch of him and he appealed to every inch of her. The dinner conversation had opened doors that she had, if she was honest with herself, not tried all that hard to keep closed. Walking around in front of him with nothing on but a night shirt and underwear? Of course, he’d noticed that. He didn’t need to be attracted to notice that.

Next time, Judith, just try throwing yourself at his feet naked. That might be less obvious.

The thought had her forcing her attention on the red door in front of her, letting her mind focus on how odd it was that they were approaching a government building from the side keep her mind focused on something other than him. She glanced around with a frown when she realized that, much like the parking lot out front, there was no obvious sign of life this close to midnight. “I hope you don’t think we’re breaking in,” she stated, leveling a look at him. She flushed furiously when green eyes, luminous in the dark, turned to her and a smirk curved his muzzle for a moment.

“No, we’re not going to break it,” he replied, raising one paw to knock on the door twice, pause, knock twice, a longer pause, and then knock three times. This caused her to raise an eyebrow and turned her attention back to the door of what should have been an empty building.

“Nick, I wasn’t expecting you,” said a voice that seemed to come out of nowhere. A quick glance around told her that there were no visible speakers on the wall, the door or above them. This had her wrinkling her brow when the voice continued in a clear but obviously modulated tone. “And you’ve brought Mrs. Hopps with you. This should be interesting. Stand as you are, please.”

Blinking as she kept her eyes on Nick for answers, she glanced down at the hand he placed on her shoulder briefly before she felt her stomach lurch. This time, it wasn’t the male that caused it. Rather, it was the way the square of sidewalk she stood on started to drop into the world around it. It was impossible to contain her surprise and trepidation as they were literally swallowed by what looked like a very narrow elevator shaft. When they were fully underground, something slid across the opening to cover it with hardly a sound beyond the light mechanical hum she detected around her. Her ears dropped back as she looked to the fox for answers, only to have him place one finger to the tip of his muzzle to quiet her. Holding her tongue as the ride came to a stop at the bottom of the shaft who knew how far underground, she stared down the short hallway directly in front of them. Tiny cameras lined the ceiling leading down the hallway, each seeming to be trained in a different direction to cover every angle at least twice. The thought of paranoid bunker dwellers, who believed that the system was out to get them at every turn, was the first thought that crossed her mind, making her dread the lunatic that they might meet.

Then the black door at the end of the hallway swung open. Or crept open, very slowly. Almost painfully slowly as Nick guided her forward, only to have her stop dead in her tracks when she saw the brown and white sloth on the other side. Dressed as she might expect someone who truly worked for the DMV to dress, in a green button up shirt and striped tie with khaki pants, she could only continue to stare as she started to move again when the paw on her shoulder urged her forward.

“Wait. He’s a sloth?” she whispered, wincing at the volume of her voice in the tiny hallway.

“The best information broker in Zootopia,” he said by way of avoiding her question, his muzzle curved into a grin to the sloth as they reached the door. “Anything you need, he’s on it. Judy, meet Flash.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The name struck her as so odd for a member of the slowest species in Zootopia that she hesitated before finishing. “Uh, Flash.”