Tabby and Difursity had created a very interesting route of exit from the Kingdom Theater. As soon as the group stepped out of the backstage and into the dimly-lit back alley, Gazelle immediately noticed the presence of a large wooden staircase heading up towards a massive, snake-like fire escape on the side of a derelict apartment building. The building was extremely rundown, and there didn't seem to be any sort of occupation on any of the floors, save for one where a series of lights burned perpetually. It was, Gazelle could see, the same floor the wooden staircase reached on the fire escape.
Solomon kept bugging Tabby for Froot Lupis and waffles as they marched up the staircase in single file. Adam, the kingfishers and Dylan flew up to the floor in question, perching rather proudly on the iron bars in front of the ascending mammals.
"Ha! Beat ya," Cole crowed proudly. Tabby's only response was a roll of his dark green eyes.
After the whole group assembled on the fire escape, Tabby stood before them. The iron bars felt cool on Gazelle's hooves in the afternoon, which were sore from walking and running all day.
"Just follow me, everyone," the diminutive cat said as he pointed through a large open window.
After patiently waiting for the others to pop through the window, Gazelle stepped through into the apartment, every beat of her heart signifying the change in her life. However, her anxiety was temporarily stayed when she smelled the homely air of the building. She had to admit, when she saw the interior of the apartment, she couldn't complain. Sure, it wasn't the Governor's Palace, but it certainly was nicer than Gazelle's old apartment.
"Welcome to our home, sweet, home," Tabby said as he gestured around the kitchen.
The room around Gazelle was not exactly dirty, but not exactly spotless, either. A large diamond-shaped table sat in the center of a sparsely-decorated green semicircular room. A couple of cracked paintings hung at odd angles on the dusty wallpaper-covered walls. The elaborate designs on the paper dated the building back to at least the 1920s, and the overall feel of the apartment tossed an animal's mind back to the days of silver-screen detectives and gunfights. Three doors were set in the long, curving wall, two of which led into a shabby, tattered living room that, Gazelle could see, was furnished with a pair of faded orange couches. The other door led into a small, cramped room that Cole and Jon explained was the music studio.
The music studio itself, which Gazelle seemed particularly interested in, was a bit small and layered in dust. A low-budget keyboard, a drum kit and the only computer in the entire apartment occupied a space that was not much larger than Gazelle's old apartment. While the keyboard's keys were yellowed and the drum kit's heads had a layer of cookie crumbs and dried, sticky fruit juice, Tabby assured Gazelle that they still worked. Sure enough, Solomon waited until no one was paying attention and played an obnoxiously loud high note, which did not amuse Britt in the slightest. Gazelle could tell that this was where the group stored their various instruments as well, as evidenced by stacks of dubstep synth pads, spare boomboxes and a towering rack of unused chainsaws.
There was only one bathroom in the small apartment, which Dylan often complained was the source of many early-morning-rush traffic jams. Britt, due to her long fur, had to spend quite a bit of time in the shower getting it to not be snarly and to be all fluffy. The group's dressing room was in there as well, which, Gazelle reasoned, would also cause some traffic jams before their shows.
Last of all was a rather small room with a series of six bunk beds, perhaps the most inviting sight of all after an arduous day for Gazelle. These beds were rather well-kept, despite a couple of rust spots across the metal frames. A single mirror hung on the far end of the room above a dumpy brown dresser, casting the small amount of light from a yellowy lamp on the side of the dusty wall.
YOU ARE READING
Zootopia: Runaway: Gazelle's Story
General FictionShe's the most beautiful, talented and wealthiest animal Zootopia has ever known. She rose from tragedy and ashes on more than one occasion to change the course of history forever. She loved once and has suffered ever since then. She became an overn...
