Silent Enemy

Chapter 3: Lost Cause

Judy grunted with exertion as she tried in vain to open the door to her apartment. The door was an older wooden affair, thick and sturdily made. Unfortunately, its sturdy construction also meant that it was exceedingly heavy. This was compounded by her injuries, leaving the doe in a bit of a predicament. She tried easing the door open, she tried pushing her weight against it, and she even tried ramming her shoulder against it. The door remained unmoved by her efforts.

Making a strangled noise in the back of her throat, she braced her weight on her injured leg, thankfully stronger after a night's rest, and kicked the door with all of her might. The door burst forth, opening an entire four inches before her furious onslaught. Grunting, Judy used her crutch to lever open the door the rest of the way, and entered her apartment.

For the past two years, Judy and Nick had lived in a small two bedroom apartment near Haymarket in the Meadow Lands. It had meant a longer commute into work for the pair, but they were able to afford a larger place, with a view of Prairie Plaza. It also, if Judy was perfectly honest with herself, reminded her a little bit of her parent's home. It seemed that one couldn't really take the country out of the rabbit.

Judy looked around and muttered to herself at the mess that abounded in their combined household. While she had known that Nick lived messily as a bachelor, she hadn't expected the level of refuse two mammals living in close proximity could generate. What had followed was more or less a war of attrition with the clutter. Nick seemed to lose interest in the midst of pretty much every domestic chore, save cooking. Judy, meanwhile, had fallen in to the habit of waiting till things reached critical mass before actually putting in the effort to clean. She noted that things were going to reach a breaking point before too much longer, and sighed in frustration. She would have to make certain Nick actually did his fair share of the cleaning this month.

Judy used her crutch to shut the door and proceeded into their modest, but comfortable, living room. She flopped down onto their couch, which Nick had gotten second hand from a badger he knew, and sighed as she sunk down into the deep cushions. Her mind raced, as she reviewed all that had happened over the course of the past 24 hours. The monster, the subsequent battle, the vulpine, and the hospital. She needed to organize her thoughts, and the best way to do that would be to write her report. Subconsciously, she ran her hand over her ears, and looked down at her coffee table. The pamphlets Nick had shown her yesterday were still there. She quickly looked away, not desiring to think about THAT quite yet. Instead, she looked at her uniform. Frayed, dusty, and spattered with gore, she decided the first thing for the day would be a shower. Picking herself back off the couch with a grunt, she headed to the kitchen to acquire a plastic bag, and a rubber band to waterproof the brace on her arm.

Thirty minutes later, Judy was showered, clothed, and feeling presentable. Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly sure what to do with herself. The chief had made it clear that she wasn't supposed to go into work today. Nick was still at the hospital pending some tests, and while she could certainly go there and wait for him, she found that prospect unenticing. She felt restless, and apprehensive. All of her life, Judy had taken the initiative when something she wanted was in sight. Waiting for things to develop was simply not something she could comfortably do. Her eyes glanced up to a photograph pinned to their refrigerator door. It showed her and Nick, standing on a bridge in the rain forest district. In truth, it was the same bridge on which they had narrowly avoided a rampaging Machas all those years ago. He was looking down at her, a shocked expression on his face, while she looked up, a cocky smile on her face. She smiled, as the memory of the moment washed over her. The fear, turned to joy. The warmth of his embrace. That kiss.

She shuddered, her memory suddenly replaced by the image of Nick's battered body, the creature from last night crouching over him, maw dripping with spittle. Judy knew that she had to do something proactive.