The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One

The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel - 43

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 4 - The Wizard of Chaos
(Continued...Pt. 12)

Nick Wilde wandered lonely as a cloud, with no idea where was going, or even where he was...somewhere in the hills overlooking the Carrot Days Festival, right? Yes, there it was, down below. (From up here, it looked like a neon ant-hill.) Every now and then, a fragment of music would find its way up from the stage to the old service road he was following-if you could call this thing a road; it was really nothing more than a pair of winding ruts, with a lane of tall weeds for a center stripe.

Nick had brought no flashlight with him, but he didn't really need one. There was a bright, three-quarter moon out tonight and combined with his built-in night vision, he could navigate the track without difficulty. (Besides, in a pinch, he could always use the light attached to his cell-phone.)

The only other clue he had to his location was that he'd passed by the campground a short while ago. When he'd seen Finnick's van, parked in its old spot, the red fox had given it a wide berth, never mind that it was dark and empty. (Right now, he didn't want take a chance on having to talk to anybody.)

How had it happened, where had it all gone south? Last night, around the bonfire, he been sitting on top of the world with Judy and her family; how had he managed to ruin it all in less than 24 hours?

"Not the first time I messed up like that," he reminded himself, but then stopped in his tracks when a shadow inserted itself into the corner of his vision. Nick was startled, almost stunned; he hadn't used that particular fox-sense in years, had almost forgotten he had it. But then out here in the boonies there was a lot less electrical interference than back in the city.

A scent caught his nose just then, the choking aroma of car exhaust, rich, thick, and pungent; somebody's ride either wasn't firing on all cylinders or else it had a bad muffler. Whatever the case, it had passed this way only a short while ago; he wasn't alone up here.

Nick's first urge was to turn and go back the way he had come; if anybody else was around, then he didn't want to be.

And yet...something in the back of his mind was telling him to stay put, no not just stay put, to follow up on what he'd scented. Once again Nick was surprised; he hadn't felt a hunch this strongly in years, perhaps even longer.

He lifted his muzzle and sniffed the air. Someone else was up here all right, just beyond that grove of oak trees. Actually there were two of them, another fox...and a canine whose species he couldn't quite identify beneath the cover of engine fumes.

Raising his muzzle a second time, Nick checked the wind direction. Another fox and a canid species; they'd have at least as good a sense of smell as him and times two-but they were also upwind of his position; for the moment, he was safe.