Chapter 12
Inside the Department of Mammal Vehicles, there was a huge line of animals waiting to be helped.
“They’re all sloths!” Judy exclaimed, noticing the employees. Nick smiled. “You said this was going to be quick!”
“What? Are you saying that because he’s a sloth, he can’t be fast?” Nick said innocently. “I thought in Zootopia anyone could be anything.”
Nick led Judy over to his friend, Flash, who was sitting behind the counter at one of the windows. “Flash, Flash, hundred-yard dash!” said Nick. “Buddy, it’s nice to see ya.”
Flash looked at Nick for a long beat. “Nice to...see you...too,” he said slowly.
“Flash, I’d love you to meet my friend. Darling, I seem to have forgotten your name.”
“Officer Judy Hopps,” said Judy, showing her badge. “ZPD. How are you?”
Flash looked at her and didn’t respond for a good ten seconds. “I am...doing...just—”
Judy couldn’t take it. “Fine?” she offered, trying to move the conversation along.
“...as well...as...I can...be. What—” Flash continued.
“Hang in there,” said Nick, loving every second.
“...can I...do...”
“Well, I was hoping you could run a plate—”
“...for you...”
“Well, I was hoping you could—”
“...today?” Flash asked, finally completing his sentence.
“Well, I was hoping you could run a plate for us. We’re in a really big hurry,” answered Judy.
Flash waited a moment before beginning his response. “Sure. What’s the...plate—”
“Two nine—” Judy began.
“...number?” asked Flash.
Judy took a deep breath. “29THD03.”
Flash took another moment before repeating it. “Two...nine...”
“THD03,” said Judy.
“T,” said Flash.
It took quite a while for Flash to enter the first part of the license plate number into the system. Just as he was about to punch in the last digit, Nick interrupted him. “Hey, Flash, you wanna hear a joke?”
“No!” Judy yelled.
“What do you call a three-humped camel?”
“I don’t...know. What do...you call...a—”
“Three-humped camel,” said Judy quickly, trying to get the joke out of the way.
“...three-humped...camel?” said Flash.
“Pregnant,” answered Nick.
Flash showed no reaction at first, but then he slowly raised his head as a smile crept across his face. “Ha...ha...ha...ha...”
Judy’s impatience grew. “Ha, ha, yes, very funny, very funny. Can we please just focus on the—”
Flash turned toward the sloth next to him. “Hey, Priscilla...”
“Yes...Flash?” answered Priscilla, just as slowly.
“What...do...you call...a—”
“A three-humped camel? Pregnant!” shouted Judy, thoroughly frustrated.
“Three...humped...” Judy was losing her mind. “Aaaaaaaaaagh!”
Hours after they’d entered, a dot-matrix printer slowly spat out the address for the license plate number.
“Here you...,” said Flash, handing it to Judy.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah...thank you!” she said.
“...go.”
“29THD03,” said Judy, frantically reading the printout. “It’s registered to...Tundratown Limo-Service? A limo took Otterton, and the limo’s in Tundratown— It’s in Tundratown!”
“Way to hustle, buddy,” Nick said to Flash. “I love you. I owe you.”
“Hurry, we gotta beat the rush hour and—” Judy said as she hurried through the door to get outside. “IT’S NIGHT!” She looked at the sky in awe. It was completely dark.
They had been in there for hours! Judy was running out of time.
第 12 章
动物车辆管理局里面，动物们排起了长龙等待帮助。
“他们都是树懒!”朱迪注意到这些员工，惊呼道。尼克暗自微笑。“你说过查起来会很快!”
“什么?你是说因为他是树懒，所以办事快不了?”尼克一脸无辜地说道，“我还以为在动物城里，大家都无所不能呢。”
尼克领着朱迪去见了他的朋友闪电，他正坐在靠窗的一张柜台后。“闪电，闪电，100码短跑!”尼克说道，“伙计，真高兴见到你。”
闪电盯着尼克看了好长一段时间后缓缓地说道：“见到你……我也……很高兴。”
“闪电，我想给你介绍一下我的朋友。亲爱的，我好像忘了你的名字。”
“朱迪·霍普斯警官，”朱迪说着，展示了一下她的徽章，“动物城警察局的。你好啊。”
闪电看着她，有足足十秒毫无反应。“我……过得……还——”
朱迪觉得难以忍受。“不错?”她给了个提示，试图推进这个对话。
“……不……错。有什么——”闪电继续说道。
“别泄气。”尼克说着，享受着每一秒。
“……我能……做的……”
“呃，我希望你能查个车牌——”
“……为你……”
“呃，我希望你能——”
“……今天?”闪电问道，终于说完了这句话。
“呃，我希望你能为我们查个车牌。我们真的很着急。”朱迪回答道。
闪电等了一会儿才开始回答：“当然。什么……车牌——”
“29——”朱迪开始讲道。
“……号码?”闪电问道。
朱迪深吸了一口气。“29THD03。”
闪电又过了一会儿才重复道：“2……9……”
“THD03。”朱迪说道。
“T，”闪电说道。
又过了好一会儿，闪电才把车牌号码的第一部分输进系统。眼看他就要输完最后一个数字，尼克打断了他。“嗨，闪电，你想听个笑话吗?”
“不!”朱迪大叫道。
“你叫一头有三个驼峰的骆驼什么?”
“我不……知道。你……叫……一头——”
“有三个驼峰的骆驼，”朱迪快速说道，想赶紧讲完结束这个笑话。
“……三个驼峰的……骆驼……什么?”闪电说道。
“孕妇。”尼克回答道。
刚开始，闪电毫无反应，但是紧接着他缓缓地抬起头，脸上出现了灿烂的笑容。“哈……哈……哈……哈……”
朱迪越来越不耐烦。“哈，哈，是的，非常好笑，非常好笑。拜托你就不能专心——”
闪电扭头对旁边的另一只树懒说：“嗨，普里西亚……”
“什么事……闪电?”普里西亚问道，说话同样那么缓慢。
“你……叫……一头——”
“一头有三个驼峰的骆驼什么?孕妇!”朱迪大叫着，感觉特别沮丧。
“有三个……驼峰的……”朱迪逐渐不能自制。“啊啊啊啊啊啊啊!”
在他们进门几个小时之后，一台点阵式打印机缓慢地吐出了那张车牌号码的登记地址。
“给……”闪电说着，把地址递给了朱迪。
“好的，好的，好的……谢谢你!”她说道。
“……你。”
“29THD03，”朱迪说着，火急火燎地看着那张打印纸，“注册地址是……冰川镇礼宾车租赁公司?一辆礼宾车带走了奥獭顿，而且这辆车子在冰川镇——它在冰川镇!”
“太棒了, 伙计，”尼克对闪电说道，“我爱你。我欠你一份人情。”
“快点，我们得避开下班高峰——”朱迪一边说，一边急匆匆地穿过大门来到户外。“到晚上了!”她惊奇地看了看天色。天已经完全黑了下来。
他们在里面待了好几个小时!朱迪所剩的时间不多了。
