Howlers

|1| Officer on Duty

Judy's perspective.

Once upon a time, I was truly eager to get out of bed when my alarm went off. Those days are long behind me, the eagerness and joy I felt to put on my uniform have faded to exhaustion and frustration. That's not to say that I don't still love my job, I do; protecting and serving the citizens of Zootopia is a never ending task that I will, likewise, never tire of. It's an early morning, but still I roll over and slap the top of my alarm clock before sitting up in bed. About half a year ago I finally got out of my small little apartment and made the grand upgrade to... a slightly bigger apartment! It was nothing crazy, I'm still just a lone bunny after all, but it's far more comfortable here. Almost too comfortable to get up.
I drag myself out of bed, sliding my uniform on, then my duty belt. After the night howler incident, we were issued high powered tranquilizer guns on top of our tasers and nightsticks. It feels wrong sometimes to carry it, but I can't blame the ZPD for its decision. What would we do if more animals went savage? I go to make coffee, but I'm stopped by a text on my phone. "I'm outside Carrots, don't keep me waiting :p I brought coffee".
My partner Nick is waiting for me with the car. Sure, I could get to the station myself easily, and I'm sure he knows that too, but I kind of like seeing him every morning like this. I gather the rest of my stuff and walk out the door and downstairs. Sure enough, there's my fox in our police cruiser, a travel cup of coffee in his hand. I open the door and sit down in the seat beside him, "Mornin' Slick! Thank you for the coffeeee." I say to him as I take the coffee from his paw. He puts the cruiser in gear and we start driving down to the station. "No problem Carrots. Sleep well?" I shake my head with a sigh. "Do I ever?" I can see him roll his eyes and hit the turn signal to go right. "No, but if I keep trying maybe you'll have a different answer some day." His stupid responses draw a smile out of me as I take a sip from the cup. He remembers my order, a double vanilla caramel latte with two shots of espresso. Of course he remembers, he's a great... friend. And partner, of course. There's nothing else to it, nor will there ever be.

•

We pull into the parking lot of the ZPD, climbing out and making way for the front doors. No phone calls yet, no hustle and bustle- it seems like a normal morning, thank all. Entering the open lobby, a few officers are walking around or standing at the front desk filling out paperwork. Clawhauser is at his receptionist spot, enjoying an éclaire. "Morning Clawhauser." I say to him, stopping at the desk to check if I've received any work related papers. "Judy! Nick! Good morning! Oh, I've got nothing for you this morning, but you'd better get down to the bullpen. Bogo's got here early, I think something might be wrong." My smile slowly fades; maybe it won't be such a normal morning. "Will do, thanks C." I start to walk away, Nick close behind me. "Weird. Whatcha think, Carrots?" I hear him ask. I shrug my shoulders. "I'm not sure... I guess let's find out." We push into the roll call room where Bogo stands, looking up at his whiteboard. The rooms about half full, not everyone has arrived but those who have have a certain expression on their face. I can only describe it as... pale? Maybe that's not the right word. Concerned? Worried? That feels like an understatement. It sent a shiver through me as I climb into my seat. "Good morning, Bogo." Nick speaks up. The Chief looks over his shoulder with a glare and without saying a word. "Lively room..." Nick whispers to me.
Suddenly, everyone's radios start going off with a repetitive sound. All the officers know it, it's an attention signal to get officers to answer a call. But no one reaches for their radio.
"Hopps. Wilde. Take care of it." Bogo tells us in a surprisingly soft voice. "Aye aye, Chief." Nick says, while hitting his radio and standing up. "Car 240, Officer Wilde reporting in." Clawhauser's voice emerges from the radios speaker. "10-30, robbery in progress at the south side ZCU branch. Can you get there?"
I jump up as well, and me and Nick are already running through the lobby. Despite the fact that we're in the same room as him, Nick still opens his radio to say, "10-4, 240 enroute."
We sprint out to the car, Nick sliding across the hood to hop into the drivers seat. I climb into the passenger seat and he pulls out of the parking lot, lights flashing and siren wailing, zooming towards the south side of the city.