Zootopia: Secrets And Deception

Chapter 28. Jeremiahs' Story

They couldn't sleep that night, it could've been the scratches, bruises, or the venom that Jeremiah had given her, but they both felt as if a piece of them was missing, or had died with Charlie. It was an empty void inside them, they each tried to comfort each other, but I didn't help very much. Every time they closed their eyes, they could hear his armor shatter, they could see him fall and look at them, they could see the blood, the wound in his chest, and the letter that he gave them. But that morning, their sadness and pain, was only going to get worse.

They walked through the ZPD's front doors, but no one greeted them like before, not a smile or a gesture to them. They could only feel everyone looking at them as they walked towards the holding cells. But he wasn't in any of the ones along the wall.
"Excuse me?" Nick asked the cell manager.
"Yes, Officer Wilde?" He asked in reply as he put down the morning newspaper.
"Where is Jeremiah being held?" He asked, glancing at the headlines on the paper. 'Gazelle found! But her abductor is fighting for his life and will go to court.'
"They had to put him in a bigger cell, he's through the door to my left." He said and pointed in the direction for them.
"Okay, thanks." Judy said quietly as they walked past him towards the door.
"Hey Leonard, open door #35 for officers Wilde and Hopps." He said over his talkie, and the door buzzed so they could open it without setting off the alarm. Once the door closed behind them and locked again, they noticed that it was an oval cell that almost covered the entire room, and Jeremiah was leaning against the cell wall and his back was facing them. As they got closer, they began to notice some details about him. He was wearing one of those collars that imbeds thick and long needles into him, part of his body was wrapped and he had a mark on him from being tazed, he was holding his pocket watch and staring at the pictures inside them, but Myriam's picture was stained red 2/3 of the way. His scarred eye was red and there were trails that ran from them, and down his face. They knew that something happened to him, but they didn't know what.
"Jeremiah." Nick said as he crossed his arms as they stopped a few feet away from his cell. But he only slightly turned his head, and closed his pocket watch before putting it back into his pocket.
"Yes, Nickolas?" He mumbled as he stayed leaning up against the bars.
"We know that you put codes inside the mammal's gone savage, and we need the numbers and what did you take them for? Your game?" Nick demanded as he glared at him. Judy was glaring too, but not in the same way that Nick was.
"Of course, I took them because I wanted to stop all the 'species profiling' and all that. I wanted them to know what it was like to be profiled for a change. Haven't you figured it out yet? Why would I take different kinds and species of mammals, and why not take only predator, or prey? The animals that I took were the worst of the profilers in this city. They were a virus that I wanted to stop from spreading, to stop all that different species crap and all that, I was doing it for Myriam." Jeremiah said as he rolled his head to the right to see them.
"For Myriam?" Judy asked questionably.
"You should know what I mean more than anyone here about being profiled as you're this kind of mammal, so you can't do this. Like 'you're a fox, they're shifty-eyed and cannot be trusted,' how Nickolas was when you first met him in that ice cream shop, or 'you're just a bunny so you can't be a cop!' like you have been told ever since you were young. Am I right, Judy?" He added as he turned his head again, but continued. "I was just trying to bring this city back, to destroy this profiling so Myriam could become something great, and maybe even open a store or her own shop? I will never know now." He said as a tear fell from his face.
"The codes, Jeremiah." Nick demanded impatiently once more.
"Okay Nickolas, but before I give them to you, I wish to make a deal?" He asked as he moved a little so he could look at them in the eyes. They almost immediately noticed that his eyes were reddened from crying.
"Deal? There is no deal that you can make with the ZPD with what you've done. You have captured, killed, and tortured many mammals including Judy and myself. You destroyed the climate control walls and released those that are savage on the first responders, and you injected us with a controlled dosage of your venom. There is no deal that can be made, not with what you have done to this city, and her animals." Nick explained darkly and his voice began to rise.
"I didn't mean the kind of deal where I walk.....or slither. The kind where I get a lesser sentence than I deserve, the kind where I become a consultant for the ZPD? No, not that kind of deal....." Jeremiah began to say, but paused for a moment.
"Then, what kind of deal?" Judy asked as she walked a few steps closer.
"I wish to bury her." He said quietly as more tears began to form.
"Bury who?" They asked almost at the same time.
"They didn't tell you? I thought Bogo told you guys everything when they caught me?" He taunted as he chuckled darkly at his own joke.
"Bury who?" They demanded as their hands became fists in anger.
"I wish to bury Myriam!" He said in anger, and the collar pierced the needles deeper, making him flinch at every one of them going deeper. He then started to cough up a little blood and spit it out, but he didn't pay it any mind. When Nick heard this, he remembered the little wolf pup that fed him and gave him water when he was taken, she had the softest eyes and the sweetest smile that he saw.
"She's dead?" He asked as he didn't look tense anymore.
"Yes. She was in the warehouse that I was in when the ZPD came, and a firefight broke out. Bullets were flying in all directions, two even hit me, but one hit her. She bled out and died as I held her in my grasp." Jeremiah began to explain as some tears fell from his face, but paused to wipe them. "That is the second time, I have lost everything I held dear in my life. Everyone I held dear after the....." He stopped suddenly as if he didn't want to finish.
"After the what, Jeremiah?" Judy asked as Nick pulled up two chairs for them to sit in.
"After the collapse of 'ReptiWorld'." Jeremiah said as he coiled himself up in his body and rested his head on his lower spine.
"ReptiWorld?" They asked almost at the same time again.
"You don't know? I thought everyone had heard of the lost district in Zootopia?" He said as he looked at them with his scarred eye. "When Zootopia and all the districts were being built, there was a district that was built for reptiles, like myself. It was built underground as if to hide us from everyone above, but they had installed special heating lamps for us so we could have heat for our cold blooded bodies. I was really young when we moved into it, and that was two years before that entire city collapsed!" He explained as his tongue flicked a bit as if he was agitated. "It was just a normal day there, or night? I don't know, but living underground messes with the time. They had started building 'Sahara Square' district above us, but the roof was too unstable and everything around us caved in and fell on top of the city, and her reptiles. It was almost three days before they found me laying under the ruble and ruin of it, and dug me out of my should be grave!" Jeremiah explained more, but they noticed that he almost looked as if he regretted not dying that day. "My parents, friends, teachers, school, home, and everything I knew was gone. Only a small handful was found alive, the rest was buried in their early graves under structures and debris. They couldn't get to the bodies, so they flattened, bulldozed, and stabilized the ground for 'Sahara Square' so it wouldn't fall in to the same demise. The years were rough for me and fellow reptiles, I couldn't get a job because they profiled me as a snake. I was starving, alone, homeless, and weary from walking..... or slithering all around just trying to find a job. I was in an alley, leaning up against the wall just waiting for death to take me, until HE found me." Jeremiah said as he turned to look at them with both of his eyes.
"Who found you?" Judy asked as she scooted to the edge of her seat.
"His name was 'Ulysses K. Gator', he was an older reptile that owned a very large and very profitable company. He took me in and raised me as the son he never had, cared for me, and gave me a job at his company. I lived with him for years until he died suddenly in his sleep, and that was the day I found out that he left me his entire company! All his money and rights to his entire company was now mine! I had everything any mammal wanted, a mansion, great amount of money, and one of the largest multi-billion dollar company. And two weeks later, I met Megan." He paused as his face almost lit up. Almost. "Megan was my everything. The one thing I cherished most in this world. After I met her, the money, the fortune and company was meaningless to me, because I had found love. Two years later, she felt something weird and we slithered to the hospital to find out what it was. To my surprise it was....." Jeremiah stopped again as he wiped more tears from his face.
"What was it?" Judy asked as she noticed him almost breaking down, but calmed himself.
"Our little baby....." Jeremiah suddenly smiled, but in happiness, and it surprised both Nick and Judy. "She had an egg inside her with our little reptile, and I was the happiest one in the world, because my world just got a little brighter, and beautiful. She always thought the name Jessie was a good name for our child since we didn't know his/her gender, and I fell in love with our little Jessie. After we left the hospital, it was late at night and I couldn't stop smiling, as we made our way down the sidewalk. Until that car jumped the curb, and was used as a battering ram!" Jeremiahs smile suddenly went away as he elaborated on this further. "Her spine was broken upon impact, and she couldn't get away. I tried to take her out of there, but those animals jumped out of the car, grabbed me, and made me watch my one fear, made me watch the one thing I feared most in this world come true. They shot her right in front of me before they drove off. I held her in my arms as she lay dying, and I called the ZPD for help, but no arrests were made, or anyone suspected before the case went cold and they filed it as unsolved in their filing cabinet. I never got any closure, or any comfort that day, or any day since. No one came to her funeral... to their funeral that is. Her tombstone has both their names one it, but hurts just as much when I visit. Part of me died that night with my wife and child. But all that changed when I took in Myriam." Jeremiah said as used his tail to rip something out of his custom made suit. It seemed to be sewed into it and sandwiched between two pieces of cloth so it could be, and threw it outside the bars.
"What is this?" Judy asked as she picked it up.
"My list of all the mammals that I captured, their names are next to their savage code and safety code. I don't need it anymore." He said as he turned away.They then got up, and began to walk towards the door, but Nick stopped and turned around to walk back.
"Tell me about Myriam? Why did you take her in and care for her?" Nick asked as he walked back to his chair. Judy was a little confused at Nick, they walked in and he was burning in anger towards him. Now he wants to know more?
"You really want to know?" Jeremiah had a surprised look on his face, and raised his head up.
"Yes, tell me about her. Please?" He asked as he leaned back in his chair.
"Okay, here is how I found her. It was two years ago. I was being driven around town looking for supplies and equipment, it was nothing I haven't done a thousand times before, but that day changed my life and continued to do so. My driver had stopped the car and went inside to get some things I needed, it was raining and cold, but was only a couple of minutes when he left before I heard someone crying. It sounded small and afraid, almost like it was done with this world, and I left the car to investigate. Slithering a few feet, I soon discovered that the sound was coming from an alley to my right, and I went in only to discover Myriam. She was holding her knees tightly and just bawling her eyes out. Seeing this made me come closer, but she heard me and looked up to see a creature that frightened her more. She started backing away in fear, 'It's okay, child. I won't hurt you.' I said to her softly, and I stopped my approach. She just looked at me through red eyes and soaking wet clothes, but wouldn't come any closer, so I reached out with my tail. 'Come with me, let's get you out of this weather and into some warm clothes.' I said softly again. This time she slowly got up and gently grabbed my tail, and when my driver came back to the car, he had the most surprised look on his face." Jeremiah said with a smile. "Once we got back, I immediately lit a fire and had one of my servant's removed her soaked clothes, and replace them with new ones that were warm and soft. My chefs made some tomato soup, and she ate like she hadn't in days, I sat across the table just watching her. But as I was watching her, I thought that her family was missing her, and the next day I had one of my men go and see if this Girl had a family....." Jeremiah suddenly stopped, and turned his head away. "Her.....her family died in a car accident, the car lost control and rolled over the side of a cliff. Her parents died on impact, but she was in the backseat safe and properly strapped into her car seat." He said as he opened his pocket watch to look at the time.
"What happened then?" Nick asked.
"She was put into the adoptive system, the building may look like it's a lovely place to be, but inside was a complete hell for the children. The people who worked there mistreated all the children, forcing them to clean everything and preparing food that they wouldn't eat. Most of the workers were Prey, and treated the children that were Predators horribly. The children were the slaves to the workers, some of the stuff I wish I would have never known, and don't want you to hear it. And since Myriam is a wolf, she got the worst of the pain, and was mostly beaten for accidentally making mistakes. So she escaped from that place and lived on the streets before I found her and took her in, like any caring person should." Jeremiah said as he looked back at Nick.
"Why was she wearing a military grade collar?" Nick asked.
"I told her about the collar and explained everything to her. That collar was to monitor her heartbeat, and blood, but there are two ways that it can be removed, one is by this remote activation, and the other is if it can't detect any heartbeat, which is what happened when she died in my grasp." Jeremiah said as they got up and began to walk out of the room. Jeremiah pulled out his watch again to look at the picture once more.
"We'll talk to chief Bogo and see if he will allow it." Judy said as the door opened and they stepped through.
"Thank you, Nickolas and Judy." He said as the door shut and locked behind them.
"We have the codes to cure the mammal's gone savage, but we still need to deliver this letter to this address where this Julia lives." Nick said as they walked out of the holding cell area. Judys' eyes were saddened slightly when he said that, and tried to not get emotional especially in the ZPD.
"Yeah, we still need to do that." She replied as they went up the stairs towards Bogos' office.