The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One

The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 12

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

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The Fire Triangle—A Zootopia Fanfiction

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Part One:

Fuel

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Chapter 3 – Day of Carrots and Blueberries
(Continued...Pt. 4)

Finding the place was easy; except for a faded paint-job and a slightly bowed-in roof, the old barn looked just the same as Judy Hopps remembered it.

Getting inside though was another matter; the double front doors were held shut by a grapefruit sized padlock and a chain as thick as a python.

Never-say-die Judy however was never that easily discouraged; she remembered a side door close to the back. It would hard to find, almost a secret entrance, but she was willing to bet her left ear that it had been left unlocked and for just that reason.

It all worked exactly as she'd hoped; well, not quite exactly. At the door's threshold, Nick Wilde balked.

"Are you sure this is all right, Carrots?"

It was Bobby Catmull who answered him, (though not directly.)

"I didn't see any 'Keep Out' signs, did you Judy?"

"Nope," She said, and moved quickly through the entrance with the Hopps children following close behind. Bobby and Belinda Catmull went next, and Nick Wilde brought up the rear.

Inside the barn, it was dark, dusty, and musty, the air suffused with the pungent aromas of old alfalfa, diesel, and creosote. The only things visible were the overhead rafters, and the hulking outlines of what were probably farm vehicles.

"Think you can find the light switch, Bobby?" Judy asked

"Yeah, but give me a moment," the cougar's words seemed blunted by the dead air, as if he were speaking in a soundproof chamber, "My eyes take longer to adjust than yours." (Like everything else in nature, superior night vision comes with a trade-off.)

"Hmmm, not having any luck over here," the big cat finally said after a minute, "anybody got a match?"

"No, don't!' Nick Wilde cried out in horror. "There's fireworks in here!" He had smelled the powder the instant the door opened.

"Just kidding!" Bobby called back, flashing a Cheshire-Cougar grin through the dimness. Judy and the kids all sniggered—while Nick let out a growling lament.

"Is everyone from the Burrows this warped?" he moaned, speaking to no one in particular.

Judy answered him anyway, "Pretty much," she said, and just then Bobby Catmull found the light switch.

The lights were low at first, giving off only a dull amber glow, but it was enough. Yep, the old barn had reverted to its original function as a storage unit over the past few years; Judy could make out three tractors, a forklift, several rolls of bunting, a few folded tents, and over on the far side a pair of fireproof blankets marked with hazmat diamonds, labeled 'Explosives1.1', the fireworks Nick had sniffed out a moment ago.