Zootopia: Runaway: Gazelle's Story

Chapter 14: Flickers of Hope

It didn't take much to realize just how gargantuan the rally in front of the Governor's Palace was.

The midmorning sun shone down on the crowd, casting rays of light down on the animals below, standing at the foot of the Palace. Sheep, cattle, buffaloes, goats, antelopes, deer, wildebeests, hares, rabbits, lemmings, mice, and hundreds of other species of prey all assembled in front of the monolithic building, caught up in a fervor of anger and fear as they waved picket signs back and forth like reeds blowing in the breeze. Several black-hooded members of the PSL stood amidst the crowd, all reporting via walkie-talkies to their illustrious leader, who was lurking behind the governor's podium, a devilish smile on his face.

The short, plump governor, David Bellwether, stood atop a gargantuan wooden stool behind his far-too-tall podium. Down below, army of reporters applauded him and hammered him with questions, such as "What are you doing to extend the quarantine on predators?" and "Why is all this happening?" and "What is being done to protect us?"

The fat little governor was more than happy to answer all of these questions.

"A-a-a-and if you think that we're just going to sit by and let our fair citizens be mauled and m-m-maimed by these chompers," he orated into the microphone, stuttering horribly, "you'd better th-th-th-th-think again! We will protect you, our fair citizens! We will put an end to these s-s-s-savage predators. Clearly they cannot be trusted to function within our society of p-p-p-peace! Effective next week, we will i-i-i-implement T.A.M.E. Industries facilities across the state of Animalia! We will make it so these m-m-m-monsters will never put another citizen in d-d-d-danger ever again!"

At this, the entire crowd of prey broke into cheers, waving their signs, displaying crudely-painted messages such as "Put the Preds to Bed," "Stop Chompers Now," and "Bellwether Brings Peace," over their heads once more. The governor's fat little sheep body quivered with what appeared to be a mixture of nervousness and satisfaction. The gleeful excitement in the air could be cut with a knife. Hundreds of prey animals were shouting out praise to their governor with the members of the PSL, caught in the frenzy of the moment.

However, barely anyone paid attention to a group of maybe two hundred predators, who were standing off to one side, their collars all glowing green and bobbing as they waved their own signs. It was obvious that they were vehemently against the idea of these oppressive, evil buzz collars being implemented statewide, with their own banners displaying messages such as "T.A.M.E. is Not Tame," "Welcome to the State of Hate," and "Brutal Bellwether Ignores Pred Rights."

Bobby Catmull and his daughter, totally expressionless under the fear of being hurt by their own buzz collars, were holding up one such banner. He stared down at his daughter, a sad, hopeless look in his eyes. He could tell that his daughter was a little bundle of joy waiting to escape, but all children were like that. Unless a miracle happened, little Madi was doomed to never be free, a curse she would pass on to her children (assuming she had children, that is.)

Boris and Morris Koslov, their heads above the entire crowd of predators, cast wistful looks around them. Boris' collar was solidly in the yellow, his inner anger being barely contained. Morris, although he was not quite yet old enough to receive his own buzz collar, knew the pain his father went through on a daily basis, and was holding up his own sign of protest. In light of the disaster that destroyed their home, Morris was more than ready to resurrect some sort of hope for the two of them. They had lost their home and business; they weren't about to lose their freedom.

Not for anything.

* * *

As the members of Difursity approached the rally, they soon found themselves lost in the tides of thousands of prey animals. It seemed as though all of Capital City had turned out for the occasion, and every prey animal visible was either carrying an anti-predator picket sign or talking amongst themselves about these supposedly evil animals.