Chapter Text
It was another beautiful day in Savannah Central; the city’s climate-control system surely helped with that, but the citizens would not complain. Funding that system to keep Zootopia a utopia was a tax they were more than willing to pay, contingent that the politicians running things weren’t seeking to sow the seeds of division and hate among the populace with the intent to subjugate a sizable fraction of the population.
To an out-of-towner, that might seem like an odd thing to say, but it was a distinction Zootopia lifers had to make because such a thing had actually happened not too long ago. That is to say, some mammals in power had been seeking to cause bigoted chaos -- while they succeeded to a certain extent, they didn’t get nearly as far as they had wanted. And it was all thanks to the unlikeliest of duos.
After busting open another huge case involving a trapeze artist and a toaster factory and highly illegal chocolate pudding, Chief Bogo had granted Officers Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde a sabbatical. While they planned to spend much of that away from the hustle and bustle of the city, before they made that voyage, they wanted to take some of that fine city in; they hadn’t poured all effort into making Zootopia a wonderful place to live just to never enjoy the fruits of their labor. At present, they were electing to spend some time at Pawley Park, having pleasant conversations with the mammals they had sworn to protect -- and were doing a pretty good job of protecting. Said mammals were overjoyed to meet them, and even as Nick and Judy donned their civilian duds, the citizenry would recognize them from a mile away.
It’s not every day that a cop becomes a celebrity, let alone two cops, let alone in a city the size of Zootopia. So neither the rabbit nor the fox would have ever imagined in a million years that that’s who they’d become to their city. But with a job well done in putting a mad flock of sheep in prison, celebrity had more or less been thrust upon them.
And that was totally fine by them. Judy had always sought to be someone who protected her community, so to have that community approach her and express their gratitude and tell her she was doing an amazing job? Oh, if that was the spotlight, she would never shy away from it. The only way she could truly know she was succeeding in her noble endeavor was if the mammals she vowed to help told her so, and well, here they were. As for Nick, on the one paw, he was a mammals’ mammal, that fox could get along with just about anybody and have a ball doing so. But there was also that side of him that deeply valued the positive feedback from the public he served; after spending so much of his life living as he felt forced to, joining the ZPD was a choice that he had made, and hearing strangers tell him that he’d made the right choice gave him the confidence to finally feel like he was making the world a better place by being in it.
It was the tail end of most mammals’ lunch hours when the fox and bunny had decided to sit down at a park table and play some chess, their luggage bags tucked underneath. They joked that they must have been doing an amazing job of preventing crime because none of the pieces were missing. Nick took black, Judy took white, and the battle began. Many plastic soldiers gave their lives in that war of attrition, which waged on and on between two formidable opponents without any sign of stopping.
“...Y’know…” Judy mused as she pondered her next move, “...I admit, I never would have pegged you as a good chess player.”
“...And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean?” Nick asked jocularly as he donned his famous vulpine smirk; if he was truly offended by her remark, not a soul would be able to tell from that face. “You mean to tell me you think Mister Dumb Fox is a fox who’s dumb? Inconceivable!”
She chuckled helplessly as she moved one of her last remaining pawns. “Oh, Nick, you know I didn’t mean it like that… just that, y’know, chess doesn’t seem like much of a street hustler’s game, now does it?”
“Au contraire, Madame Lapine!” he retorted. “When you run in the streets, life is a game of chess! And I may or may not have struck some, uh, business deals, ahem… at this very table, in this very park…”
Tap, tap, tap. And his knight swallowed her pawn.
“...playing with this very chess set.”
The bunny was too impressed by his move to be annoyed about being outfoxed. “Hm. Point taken! What kind of business, Slick?”
She’d called him Slick. That was his cue to slouch in his seat, fold his arms behind his head, and look cool as a cucumber. “Why would I answer that question?”
Another chuckle from Judy, this time a small one out her nose. “Because you trust me.”
He shrugged one shoulder as his teeth peeked through his smirk. “Maybe I do… maybe I trust you to be dutiful to a fault.”
“What, you think I’d tattle on you?”
“Ah, I’d use a more sophisticated word, like… squeal.”
They both devolved into a contagious case of the giggles. When those passed in time, they just sat there for a moment, enjoying each other’s presence. They just about forgot they were playing a game.
“...Gosh, I can’t tell you why, but I’ve got a feeling that today’s gonna be a big day,” Judy mused.
“Well, duh, travel days usually are,” Nick teased.
“Heh, this is true! But… I dunno, I feel like it’s gonna be something more eventful than just you meeting my parents.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What, is this some bunny voodoo premonition thing that I don’t know about?”
“No, no, it’s… totally unscientific, totally a hunch, just… a feeling I’ve had since I woke up. Like something… well, big is gonna happen today.”
The fox waited patiently for more information, just to throw his paws up when it never came. “Well, ya gotta give me more nuts and bolts than just that!” he pressed, jovially but insistently. “‘Big’ in what way? Like, something big happening to you, to us, to… to the world, what?”
Alas, the rabbit seemed stumped by her own statement. “I… that’s just the thing, I don’t have any details that I’m, like, withholding from you or anything, I just… just an overwhelming feeling that won’t go away. I… I can see it being big in a bunch of different ways!” She shrugged. “What, do you never just get a feeling you can’t put into words? Like intuition?”
Nick’s smirk intensified to critical levels. “...I have a feeling that it’s your turn,” he remarked as he pointed a claw at the chess board.
Judy looked down and remembered that they were here to symbolically wipe each other off the map. She looked back up and gave him a determined look that could rival his own.
“You know, Nick… you sure are one of the most self-confident mammals I’ve ever met.”
“Aw, I know I am! But…” He sat back up. “...what exactly makes you say that?”
“Because you know you’re a clever fox who’s darn good at chess and won’t be convinced otherwise, even if…”
Tap, tap, tap… tap tap tap… taptaptaptap.
“...someone else just happens to be even better.”
The fox jerked forward and leaned in to take a look at the board. The rabbit had just pulled a move that never would have crossed his mind, and his king was cornered in every conceivable direction.
“Checkmate!” Judy beamed.
“How the--?”
Nick was interrupted by the obnoxious chime of the alarm on his phone, intentionally set at the most annoying volume possible so they couldn’t miss it if they tried.
“And on that bombshell, we should be headed to the station now!” he beamed as he swept his arm across the table to knock all the pieces over. He stood and hunched over to retrieve their bags. “Ight, let’s rock ‘n’ roll!”
“Hooold on there, sly one,” she scolded him playfully. “We should really set an example by at least putting the pieces back,” the bunny said as she began doing exactly that.
Oh yeah, he was supposed to be a law-abiding citizen now; sometimes he forgot, old habits and all that.
“Ah, alright, alright…” he pretended to mope as he sat back down and helped organize the pieces in their case. “Oughta put some good karma out there so that the ‘big thing’ Carrots the Clairvoyant foresaw won’t be something bad. God, I hope you weren’t forecasting a train crash.”
“Oh, Nick, don’t be so morbid!” Judy scolded again, less playfully this time.
“Hey, hey, I said I hope there isn’t a train crash, it’d be morbid if I said I wanted one!” he noted, finger in the air. “If I really wanted to be morbid, I’d make a joke that if a rabbit’s having visions of disaster, it’s a good thing we’re traveling by train and not by watership! But I’m a changed fox…” he trailed off, giving the bunny an irresistible smirk.
“Ah, I know you are, Slick,” she said with a light chuckle. “But I never did say I felt there would necessarily be a disaster.”
Whatever this ‘big thing’ was, it didn’t happen during the journey to Central Station, which was thankfully uneventful. They found their line and joined it, the mammals in line ahead of them coyly pretending not to know who they were before Nick and Judy made the first move and introduced themselves, much to their fellow citizens’ elation. But then there was the matter of those who fell in line behind them.
“Mommy, Mommy, look!”
The officers were startled for a moment, but were soon at ease when they realized it was simply a little girl exclaiming in excitement, not in alarm. A moment after that, however, they had to reset their mental images of this child as the girl and her mom turned out to not be so little.
“Natasha, don’t bother them!” the giraffe woman chided her daughter as they took their places in the line behind the fox and bunny. One could see on the mother’s face -- if they could see her face all the way up there -- that she bashfully wanted to meet the famous cops as well. “Heh, I am so sorry--!”
“Oh, no, it’s quite alright!” Judy insisted warmly. “We love meeting fans!”
“And what a fan she is! Now, Natasha, introduce yourself nicely.”
“Um -- hi, I’m Natasha. I’m your biggest fan!” the giraffe girl greeted brightly after finding her courage.
“Hi, Natasha, I’m Judy,” the rabbit said as she jumped to give the child a high-five.
“And you can call me Nick, Natasha,” the fox added as he gave her a high-five of his own. “Tell us, tell us, what do you like about us so much?”
Natasha felt like she was doing show-and-tell in school. “Uh… you two keep the city safe… and you didn’t let the predators get hurt so I can still play with all my friends… and I wanna be like you when I grow up and… you’re so cute!”
Like a switch had been flipped, Judy went from overjoyed to visibly flinching at that word. “...Oh.”
“Natasha!” the girl’s mother scolded under her breath as she craned her neck down to her daughter’s level. “What did I tell you about calling bunnies ‘cute’!?”
“No, no, ma’am, I… don’t, don’t worry, she’s just a child, she didn’t know!”
“Hey, if it makes you feel better, Carrots,” the fox piped up slyly, “don’t be so sure she was talking about you!”
Aw, heck, that got the rabbit giggling again.
“Can I ask a question?” Natasha asked. “My friends and me have a question about you two.”
“Well, of course, young lady, what can we answer for you?” Nick replied kindly.
The giraffe girl seemed anxious again, but mustered the nerve to get the bat off her shoulder. “So… uhhh… are you two just friends, or, um, do you two kiss!?”
The child had outdone herself, and now both cops were visibly uncomfortable. As were the others in line around them.
“NATASHA!” her mother repeated, louder this time. “That is not something you ask grown-ups, young lady!”
“I’m sorry…” Natasha whimpered.
“No, no, ma’am, it’s… it’s fine!” Judy insisted, coming to the little girl’s aid. “She didn’t know, and, uh… let’s just call this a teaching moment!”
“And besides,” added Nick, “we get that question from grown-ups all the time!”
The giraffe woman couldn’t help but be intrigued. “They… they do? Well, um, uh… this, uh, this is none of my business of course, but, uhhh… long as we’re on the topic, I… am kinda curious myself!”
That was not the way either officer expected this diffusion tactic to go. They were just trying to excuse the poor curious child, but the look on the mom’s face made it clear that she was anticipating an answer -- to say nothing of the wide-eyed look on Natasha’s face. And even as they snuck a glance at one another, they could see in their periphery that their neighbors in line were hanging on their next words as well. Pardon the expression, but they weren’t weaseling their way out of this one.
So a weasel weaseled them out instead.
“Tickets, please!” the mustelid railroad employee announced as he made his way down the line with an electronic scanner. “Track 11, to Podunk, Bunnyburrow, and points beyond!”
As he scanned the tickets of the mammals in front of them, the three adults forgot what they were talking about as they remembered where they were.
“Oh, yeah,” the giraffe mom murmured as she pulled her phone out. “We should probably… get those ready.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nick nodded distantly, pulling his own phone out, “uh… good idea.”
“Do you have them both, Nick?” asked Judy.
“Yeah, I… I got ‘em.”
“Tickets, please?” asked the employee as he approached.
The fox held his phone up. “Alright, so here’s the first one…”
“...But I wanna know if they’re boyfriend and girlfriend!” Natasha protested.
“Natasha, no…” her mother chided.
“Uh…” the employee began when the scanner didn’t chime, “you might need to… turn the brightness up…”
“Alright, I can try…” Nick mumbled as he fiddled with his settings. “Sorry, heh, night-vision eyes…”
“I wanna know, I wanna know!” Natasha chanted, jumping in place.
“Natasha, I need you to act like a big girl…” said her mother.
“Wait…” the employee said to Nick, “I’m sorry, sir, is this a screenshot?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry, dude, we don’t take screenshots, it needs to be in the app with the little… floaty thing going across the screen.”
“Wait, why?”
“Security measure so mammals aren’t duplicating them…”
“Uh… okay, gimme a sec…” Nick tapped away on his screen.
“Are you two gonna get married!?” Natasha screeched as she craned her neck over the officers, effortlessly ignoring her as their minds were simply elsewhere.
“Natasha!” her mother warned through clenched teeth.
The fox groaned and rolled his eyes. “Okay, that’s not my password… or do I need the… ‘@zmail.com’ in the username part--?”
“Hold on, I… I think you forwarded it to me,” Judy muttered as she pulled out her own phone.
“WHY WON’T YOU ANSWER ME!?” Natasha moaned at the top of her lungs, getting the attention of everybody in the station except the three mammals right in front of them.
“YOUNG LADY!” her mother barked, lamenting their stature that made them stand out even more. “You are so grounded when we get to grandma’s house!”
Judy held her phone up and the weasel scanned it.
Da-ding!
She swiped to the other ticket.
Da-ding!
“Sly bunny,” remarked the fox under his breath.
“Dumb fox,” remarked the bunny under hers.
“Alright, thank you--” The employee’s words caught in his throat when he saw the names associated with the tickets pop up on his scanner’s screen. “Wait… Hopps and Wilde?”
“The very same,” Nick said with a winning smirk.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Judy added sweetly, assuming this was another fan, albeit one who thought they were just another fox and rabbit before he read their names.
But the weasel wasn’t starstruck, he was spooked. “H-hold on a second.” He turned and called down the line. “Hey, Brian!?”
Now the officers were confused. “Is… is everything alright?” asked Judy.
“Oh, yeahyeah, I just gotta… get my manager over here. BRIAN!” He hollered again, paws cupped around his mouth to project louder.
Perplexed, the duo just stood there until this mysterious Brian showed up. A few moments later, a white wolf waltzed over, looking none the wiser himself.
“What’s up, Chris?” asked the manager.
“Found our VIPs,” the weasel said, gesturing to the pair.
“VIPs?” asked Nick.
“No, no…” Judy stammered, worried for a moment they had paid more money than they needed to. “We just paid for regular coach tickets--”
“Oh, we know, you’ve done nothing wrong,” Brian insisted, then lifted the rope between the stanchions demarcating the line. “Quite the contrary, you’ve done quite a bit right! Please, follow me!”
Nick and Judy had no idea what was going on, but this seemed like good news. They left the line and followed the manager while Chris checked in the giraffes.
“Does this mean we won’t sit next to them on the train?” Natasha whined.
“Hallelujah…” the fox spat under his breath, the bunny nodding along.
The officers soon found themselves walking down the platform towards the end of their train. Brian waited until they were out of earshot of anybody else before explaining what was up.
“So… you folks know Gazelle?” the wolf asked.
Their eyes went wide.
“Of-of course we do!” answered Judy. “We’re huge fans of hers!”
“Well, she’s huge fans of you, too. So, y’know how she’s big into environmentalism?”
“Among other activisms, but yeah,” Nick nodded skeptically.
“Wouldn’t you know it, traveling by train is better for ecology and such than flying! As such, she’s been in talks with our railway to roll out…Gabooses!”
“Gabooses?” Judy winced.
“Gesundheit,” Nick quipped.
“Gazelle cabooses,” explained the wolf, “luxury private cabooses meant to encourage long-distance rail travel for those with enough money to be trendsetters. Now -- we didn’t get to talk to her directly, but her team told us that she was gonna inaugurate it herself… before she found out that rail travel cross-country is… well, kinda slow, heh. But apparently… word got around on social media that you two were traveling to Bunnyburrow for a little vacation!”
The fox and bunny exchanged glances. Yeah, they each had follower counts in the five digits these days, it wasn’t inconceivable that Gazelle heard from someone who’d heard from someone who’d seen them post about them visiting the Hopps farm for a weekend.
“So… she’s letting us ride it?” asked Nick cautiously.
“Like I said, she’s a fan of you two,” the wolf smiled. “At least that’s what her PR person insisted on the phone -- as they put it, from one celebrity to two others, Gazelle thought you two would appreciate some time out of the spotlight.”
Their faces lit up. They loved hearing from the public, but… yeah, it was gonna be a long journey in a confined space, and while the point of visiting the farm was to get away for a while, the encounter with the giraffes had them both in the mood to have some privacy sooner rather than later.
“And… there’s no strings attached?” Judy asked. “We don’t have to do anything, we just… get to ride in it?”
“That’s what her team told us,” Brian reiterated. “As long as you don’t trash the thing, it’s yours from here to Bunnyburrow Station.”
The officers shared giddy looks. “Carrots, call it a hunch, but I thiiink this might be the ‘big thing’ you saw coming today!”
They reached the end of the line of passenger cars, and sure enough, there at the end was a hot pink caboose that outwardly looked like they’d just stolen it from a railroad museum and painted it. The wolf employee produced a stepstool and helped the smaller mammals board through the rear door, where they saw just how opulent it really was. There were a half-dozen excessively-padded seats, all reclinable and adjustable for species of all sizes. TV screens, a sound system, a bookshelf, a minifridge, and if the passengers just wanted to take a nap, sun curtains on every window and a shelf of light blankets and pillows.
“This is amazing!” Judy gushed as she spun around the Gaboose.
“Didn’t realize there was a level above first class!” Nick joked as he collapsed into the first seat he saw, sinking into its cushions like quicksand -- not that he’d protest. “Oh, God, if there’s still a derailment on the horizon, this wouldn’t be the worst chair to die in!”
“Oh, don’t you get too comfy! We need to start writing Gazelle a thank-you letter before we forget!”
“Her team already told us there’s no need,” Brian said warmly. “The pleasure is hers; if anything, she says thank you.”
“Man, she really is an angel with horns, ain’t she?” the fox mused. “Benny is gonna be so jealous when we tell him!”
It felt so wrong, but the bunny couldn’t help but smile. Alright, alright, she’d put her small-town manners in her pocket this time and forgo the thank-you letter, and instead she’d just enjoy the here and now. And what a here and now it was! It almost seemed too good to be true, but she knew it was right to trust that gut feeling she’d woken up with.
The railway employee was making his way out, but not before pointing to the door at the opposite end. “And if you wanna go explore the rest of the train -- hit up the observation car or just, y’know, use the bathroom, heh heh -- that door opens from the inside, so you can go out but the other passengers can’t bug you. It’ll scan your ticket to get back in, and if there’s any trouble, just find an on-board employee, they’ll have a skeleton key. Alright! We just need to finish boarding the plebians, and we’re looking to leave on schedule! You both enjoy the ride!”
“Thank you so much!” Judy beamed as she waved at the departing wolf. “We definitely will!”
“...One minor annoyance, though,” Nick spoke up as soon as the door had clicked behind the employee. “I was gonna tell Clawhauser right now, but I’m not getting any bars in here.”
Curious, the bunny checked her own phone. Nope, no signal. “Ah, not the weirdest thing, we’re kinda underground right now, aren’t we? I’m sure we’ll get service once we’re moving.” With that, she got herself situated in a seat opposite Nick. “...Sweet cheese and crackers, this is a comfy seat!”
“I know, right!?” the fox yipped. “So, you wanna see what’s on the tube? You see a remote or anything?”
“I don’t, but… honestly, if it’s alright, I kinda just wanna doze off for a little bit. I mean, we’ve got two hundred and eleven miles ahead of us, and… hey, I love my family, but there’s a lot of bunnies in that house, a lotta young bunnies. This might be the best sleep we get all weekend!”
“Hm! Good point, good point…” Nick nodded. “...By the way, do you actually have two hundred and seventy-five siblings, or is that just an oddly specific family inside-joke?”
“You can count them yourself when you’re there,” the bunny answered with a wink in her voice. “A lot of them still live with Mom and Dad.”
“Pfft, in this economy, I’m not judging. Still less embarrassing than living in a van down by the river--”
The car suddenly jerked. They looked out the window as the station scenery slid past; they were moving. And right on cue, the media screens flickered on and the sound system crackled with life. In tandem, they showed their passengers the music video for Gazelle’s signature song:
(Ohhh-oh, ohhh-oh, oh…!)
(Ohhh-oh, ohhh-oh, oh…!)
I messed up toniiiiight, I lost anooother fiiight…
“It’s our song!” Judy squealed.
“Our song?” Nick guffawed. “I didn’t realize the Gaboose experience came with the intellectual property to this song!”
And as much as the energy of the tune made them want to get up and dance, the familiarity and comfort that it provided outweighed those urges, and by the second verse, they each had their eyes closed.
They woke up within moments of each other, jostled by the train rocking like a ship on the ocean. That was to say nothing of the sound of the wheels on the rails having gotten loud enough to render sleep a challenge. Groggy, neither of them thought about it for a bit, watching the TV screens until they were fully aroused. It was playing the “Try Everything” music video again, and was just about reaching its end. The screen faded to black and the song was extinguished. Then it came back.
Ohhh-oh, ohhh-oh, oh…!
Ohhh-oh, ohhh-oh, oh…!
I messed up toniiiiight, I lost anooother fiiight…
“...Was it just playing that on loop this whole time?” asked the fox.
“I… guess so?” the bunny surmised.
“Is there a remote to change the channel?” Nick asked as he stood from his seat -- just to immediately stumble when the Gaboose rocked him off his feet. “Mmph!”
“Nick, be careful.”
“No, this is good, maybe the remote rolled under one of these seats.” Knees on the ground, the night-visioned vulpine checked the dark crevices under each of the chairs. “Uhhh… nope. Not down here. Or is there a button on the armrests like on an airplane?”
“I… think there might not be a way of controlling it,” Judy ventured. “I think it might just be… the ambiance she chose. For the aesthetic.”
“Well, that’s stupid!” the fox scoffed as he shakily got to his feet, grabbing onto his chair for dear life to steady him. As he did, he couldn’t help but notice the train breeze by a station, a gaggle of befuddled passengers staring agape as they sped by. “Heh, but not as stupid as those poor saps not realizing this is the Express!”
“This… isn’t the Express, though,” said the rabbit. “A-at least… I don’t remember buying Express tickets, I thought that only ran during rush hour.”
Nick involuntarily fell back into his seat, wincing just a bit as he landed on his tail funny. “Well, pardon my ignorance, Judy, but I’ve never exactly needed to take a train to Bunnyburrow! Next you’re gonna tell me the train shouldn’t be going this fast.”
“It shouldn’t.” That was the most confident thing she’d said since waking up. The Express she’d taken into Zootopia wasn’t barrelling down the tracks this rapidly, she would have remembered being on the verge of motion sickness. But Judy Hopps was not one to just sit around without investigating a peculiarity. She slid out of her seat. “Lemme go-- MMPH!” She fell, then stood again. “...Lemme go ask someone.”
She got to the door that connected to the rest of the train and fiddled with the handle. Then she kept fiddling with it.
“...Nick?”
“Yes’m.”
“Alright, you’re gonna say ‘dumb bunny,’ I’m gonna say ‘sly fox,’ it’ll be very C-U-T-E, yadda yadda yadda. With that out of the way… help me open this thing, would ya?”
Carefully, Nick stood and made his way over; it was hard to break into his trademark swagger with the floor this shaky. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, don’t they teach you how to read in Bunnyburrow Public Schools?” he teased as he pointed to the instructions posted on the door. “You press the button and you pull the--”
The handle wouldn’t budge.
“...and you pull the--”
He tugged harder, it still wouldn’t budge.
“...Welp. Son of a gun. Ah, well, why work harder when you can work smarter?” the fox smirked as he pulled his phone out. “Lemme just give customer service a ring aaaaand I still have no bars out here.”
“Well, we are in the middle of nowhere right now,” the bunny reasoned, though that didn’t make her feel much better either.
Not wanting to show how stuck he felt, Nick looked forlornly out the door’s window at the door of the car ahead of them. “Is this a bad time to mention I kinda need to use the little kits’ room--?”
Funny he should say that. Because just as he did, the door to the adjacent car swung open, and a deer doe soon filled its opening. She looked panicked, like she’d just chosen flight over fight. But when she opened that door, she saw into the window of the Gaboose, and saw the famous fox and bunny staring back at her. Pardon the expression, but she looked like she was caught in a pair of headlights.
Even over the noise of the train and through the closed door, they could hear her scream at the top of her lungs as she let go of the door and ran back into the car. In the split second before the door shut itself, the officers could see she was far from the only frantic passenger. That car looked like a madhouse.
“...Nick, something isn’t right here,” Judy stated dutifully.
“Obviously,” Nick scoffed. “But… call me unimaginative, but I’m drawing a blank on what to do here!”
Judy looked around for something, anything. And she found it rather quickly, actually. It was the rear door that they’d entered from. She ran over (stumbling here and there) and read the posted instructions; yup, exactly the same, press the button and pull the handle. She did as she was told; the only reason it gave her any trouble was because of the swaying of the train.
Nick turned when he heard the increased volume from the door being opened. Judy shut it again to talk to him: “We’re not idiots. This door is opening just fine, that one is stuck.”
His jaw went slack. “Okay? What do you want me to do with this information!? Are you proposing we jump out of the train to save ourselves?”
The thought was so selfish that she cringed. “What!? No! I’m proposing we use the exit and climb the train on the outside to save everyone else! These mammals clearly need our help!”
“Yeah, that’s more like the Carrots I know. One thing though! That’s also a crazy idea!”
“Nick, we swung from a vine over a giant canyon before, remember!?”
“Yeah, but we didn’t want to! If we’re gonna play Action Heroes and climb the outside of the train, hell, why not instead of going in the opposite direction, we at least use the roof hatch!?”
Judy looked up. There was indeed a roof hatch there.
“Huh… hadn’t noticed that. Sly fox?”
“Unobservant bunny!”
“Nick, Nick, calm down, that’s a good idea too! I just don’t know… how easy it’ll be to get up there…” Indeed, the Gaboose was designed so all species could enjoy it, hence a rather high ceiling.
“OR! Again! We can work smarter than harder!” the fox gestured at the stuck door. “It might be jammed now, but do you really think we’re not smarter than an inanimate object!? And hey, for all we know, in two more minutes, we might have cell service and might be able to call the Chief!”
“We might not have two minutes, there’s an emergency happening now!”
“And what’ll that matter if we get ourselves killed in the next two minutes trying to climb the roof of a moving train, Judy!?”
…Aw, H-E-double-carrot-sticks, he was making sense. She composed herself for a moment to say the most important thing she could:
“Listen… whatever we do, we’re gonna hafta be on the same page, agree on our decisions, and work as a unit. Agreed?”
The fox pursed his lips and nodded. “Agreed. So… your gut was right about something big happening today -- what’s it telling you is the move now?”
Oh, no! Whatever will Nick and Judy do? Well, dear reader, that’s where YOU come in! Help them make a decision, and remember, your choices will affect the story!
To have them escape the Gaboose via the back door, turn to Chapter 2!
To have them try busting down the main door again, turn to Chapter 3!
And to have them bide their time in the Gaboose in hopes of a better option, turn to Chapter 4!
Remember, you and you alone are now solely responsible for if Nick, Judy, and all the passengers on the train live or die! Isn’t that fun!? But even more importantly, remember to have fun! Happy reading, critters!