Recovery: A prologue to Fazbear & Co

Chapter 10

Freddy's jog to Bonnie's tree felt like one of the longest in his life. He was worried about her – how would she react when the police arrived? One thing was certain: the brown bear knew that she would never forgive him or Goldie for revealing her pitiful situation.

When the group finally reached the last building before its side of the street opened out onto the grassy meeting place, the bear couldn't bring himself to look. Nerves overtook every step and anxiety gripped his bones as he slowly turned to Goldie, who was beside him. The golden male's face was the same as it always was –a smile picked its way up the side of his large muzzle. His expression betrayed nothing of what he could be feeling, and Freddy wondered if his friend was just as timid as him about their current position.

The brown bear shakily brought his head up to look to the space on his right.
There was not a streak of purple fur to be seen.

Despite this causing him to feel a strange sense of relief, Freddy was still apprehensive. Where was she? Was she still among the leaves of the oak's wide canopy? Straining his bold blue eyes, the bear tried to make out anything that could signify Bonnie's presence.
Still nothing.

Sighing in defeat, the brown bear remembered that his mother and Goldie were still at his side. He turned around to address them both and noticed that Amanda's worry-stricken eyes were fixed on something a little way down the road.
Are the police here already?
To confirm Freddy's suspicions, his mother's voice rang out eerily against the buildings on the virtually empty street.
"They're here, boys."

As if her statement was of the summoning sort, two black cars glided along the dirt-ridden tarmac and mounted the pavement next to the grassy meeting place where Freddy and the other two were standing. Both doors opened one after the other, and a pair of officers climbed out: one was a pale-pigmented lion with a greying mane, and the other's hooked beak gave away his eagle species. An assortment of equipment rested in their hands and their formal clothing wrinkled and folded in the breeze as they approached.

The lion spoke first. "Officer Leolock, at your service." He gestured to his eagle companion. "This here is Officer Allan-Federman. You must be the lady who reported the inhabitant of this tree, correct?"
"Y-Yes," Amanda stuttered, frequently glancing back and forth between Bonnie's refuge and Officer Leolock's gaze.
"Leolock, sir, would you like me to investigate?" Allan-Federman pointed to the old oak whilst looking at his fellow officer for approval. The lion nodded.
"Yes, but make sure that you take a weapon. If the rabbit is 'feral', then we don't know how she will react."

Freddy felt a jolt inside of him. "S-She's not dangerous!" He felt all eyes turn to him and sensed their interrogating stares as they bored into his being. "Well...uhh...she can be, but if you get to know her..."

The eagle rotated himself so that he could make eye-contact with the bear. "In that case..." His feathered head regarded the tree. "You'd better come with me if you know her."
The bear slowly nodded before directing his attention to his mother. Her face was still full of concern.
"I'll be alright, mum. I know her, and I've always got a police officer with me if things go sour."
"'Ah'll stay here then, bud." The brown bear recognised Goldie's heavily accented voice and spun back around to acknowledge him before taking the lead over to the oak tree.

Once they were stood beneath the splaying branches, the eagle officer stared up. "This is fascinating," he commented, lifting a finger to his chin. "A rabbit living in a tree."
"I know," Freddy replied, also searching the branches. "I've climbed it before. She'll probably be up there. Want me to take a look?"
Officer Allan-Federman nodded. "Yes. But be careful!"

Remembering his failure in tree-climbing earlier, the brown bear made sure that his footing was precise and that his grip was strong. Mindful of the eagle below him, Freddy edged his way up the bark of the tree as he had done before. This time, however, there was no need to haul himself onto any branches. He simply needed to push his head up into the offshoots and look around to see if the rabbit was there.
Eventually he reached his goal. Mottled green light filtered its way through the leaves and bathed his clothes and fur. Freddy swung his head around cautiously, still alert for any rustling noises or sounds that might give away the inhabitant's position.
None.
The bear had almost given up hope and began to lower his body back down the tree trunk and then onto the grass where the officer was waiting. Freddy opened his mouth to report his findings.

It was then that an ear-splitting screech cut through the air.