Grace shut her eyes tightly and more salty liquid ran tracks down her cheeks. “I found some scissors in there. I was cutting myself when they appeared. Maybe if I hadn’t been so distracted I would have known how.”
“What if we get rid of all the sharp objects?”
Grace laughed. The sound was hollow and broke Joe’s heart. “You mean take away everyone’s weapons when we’re being attacked by a zoo full of animals? I don’t think so. Besides, I’ll find a way. Even if it means biting chunks out of myself.”
Joe cringed at the image in his head. He needed a minute to digest everything. He didn’t know such conditions existed. And Grace seems so normal. It wasn’t his place to judge though. Grace was his friend…
“I’ll make sure nothing happens,” he said. “Even if I have to watch you twenty-four-seven. We’ll get through it together.”
Grace smiled again. This time it seemed a little more heartfelt, but Joe could tell that he had done nothing to allay her fears. She was still terrified.
Joe stood up, not before leaning forward and kissing her cheek. “I’m just going to check on Danny. I’ll be right back and if you need me I’ll only be a few feet away.” Once he was happy Grace would be okay, Joe left her to rest. By the room’s window, Danny was on tiptoes and hanging over the ledge. Joe shouted at him to get down and he did so obediently.
“Dad, you need to see this. They’ve all gone.”
Joe slid up beside his son and looked out. No sign of any animals, besides a few burnt llama husks and some unidentified stains on the pavement. Mostly what remained was trampled grass and scorch marks from the firebombs. The attack was over.
For now…
Victor stood nearby, checking over the remaining firebombs and weapons. Joe approached him. “You think we’ll need those?”
“Who knows, but a retreat in battle does not mean the war is over.”
Joe nodded. “They could come back.”
“Aye, and likely they will. But we beat them once and we can beat them again. We proved today that we’re far from toothless.”
Joe offered his hand to Victor. “We should all thank you for getting us organised.”
Victor did not take his hand. “We did our jobs. If you’re gonna thank anybody, thank yourself for doing what was required of you.”
“Okay,” said Joe, reeling back his arm. “I’ll leave you to it. Just one last thing?”
Victor looked at him. “What?”
“How long do you think they’ll be gone for?”
Victor thought for a moment then shrugged. “No idea. Maybe a day.”
Joe nodded and took a deep breath. “That’s good to hear.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Joe said, “it will give me time to go downstairs.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Joe could see Bill wasn’t happy with his plan. “You’re crazy,” he said. “You can’t go down there!”
Joe leant in close. “Look, I just have to, alright. Grace is ill and I need to get her medication.”
Bill shook his head. “What’s wrong with her? I’m sure Mason would be able to find something to help in one of the labs.”
Joe wished it were true. “I can’t say what’s wrong with her, but if I don’t get her pills then she’s really going to suffer.”
Bill didn’t answer. He just kept shaking his head.
“Look,” said Joe. “We all have to stick together, and Grace needs help. I’ll feel better knowing she’s safe. Wouldn’t you?”
“What about Danny? Is he going to be safe if you get killed down there?”
It was something Joe couldn’t think about right now. If he did then he wouldn’t be able to do what he needed to. “I don’t intend to die down there. I’m not insane. The animals have retreated for now. It will be safe, and perhaps my only chance to do this.”
Bill took a deep breath and scratched at the salt-n-pepper stubble on his chin. “Okay, then I’m coming with you.”
“What? No way. There’s no reason for us both to take a risk.”
Bill smiled. “I thought you said it would be safe?”
“Yeah…probably…most likely.”
Bill grabbed a litter spike from a nearby table and held it up like a spear. “Well then there’s nothing to worry about.”
Joe had no argument. He picked up his own litter spike and prepared to get going. The quicker he got this whole thing done the better. Danny would be fine with Mason, but Joe didn’t think the man was particularly experienced in minding children. It would be unfair to leave them together too long.
He headed out into the corridor and Bill followed him. If he was honest with himself, he was glad for the company. There was every chance that the lower floor would be deserted, but that didn’t make it any less scary. But before he even got there, he would have to get through Victor’s barricades.
Victor was unwilling to let anyone tamper with the barricades and was standing beside the first one at the top of the stairs. Earlier he had made it clear that keeping the upper floor safe was the only priority and that if the animals were still downstairs then Joe wasn’t getting back in unless it was completely safe. If things were still bad then this would be a one-way journey.
“You ready there, pal?”
“Yeah, I’m ready. Bill is coming too.”
Victor eyed up Bill and laughed. “Queer and crazy? You’re both bloody mad for doing this. Still, you’re not prisoners. It’s your choice.”
“It is our choice,” said Bill. “About whom we are and what we do.”
“Aye, well, watch your backs out there.” Victor nodded to Joe. “You especially with this one around.”
Bill sighed, but let it go. Like Joe, he was probably just thinking it wasn’t worth the time. “Just let us past,” he said.
Victor pulled a printer off the top of a desk and slid the furniture aside, creating a narrow gap. “Remember, if I hear a ruckus down there then the barricade stays up. I’ve already cleared a space for the door downstairs, but I’m gonna block it back up when you’ve left.”
Joe nodded and moved past the stack of furniture. His footsteps echoed as he took the stairs downwards. There were no other sounds though and Joe started to relax as it appeared more and more likely that the coast would be clear. The barricade in front of the staff room door was cleared of debris just as Victor had said it would be, the furniture having been moved to one side.
Joe waited Bill to catch up. “You ready?”
Bill nodded. “Whenever you are.”
“Let’s do it then.” Joe pulled open the door and slid through, Bill close behind. The staff room was a mess. Chairs and tables were upturned, the television had been pulled down and smashed, and the stench of monkey faeces filled the air and covered everything.
Bill picked up a broken pool cue, smeared with excrement, and examined it. “They really did a number on this place, huh?”
Joe nodded. “Stinks like hell.”
“All the more reason to just get this over with.”
The two men headed for the door that led into the next corridor. As they went, Joe kept a watchful eye on the shattered windows at the edge of the room. A gentle breeze came in through the gap.
Bill opened the door and waited for Joe. They crept through into the corridor and Joe suddenly thought about the lions that had started this whole thing.
Please be gone…Please be gone.
Everything seemed to be clear. The corridor like any other you’d find in a million office buildings throughout the land.
“I think we’re good,” said Joe.
“Yeah,” said Bill. “So far so good.”
They moved quickly, gaining confidence with each moment that passed without incident. At the end of the corridor was the dented door that would lead out into the zoo’s education hall.
“You ready?” Bill asked him.
Joe nodded and they opened the door. There was so much adrenaline coursing through Joe’s system t
hat he almost threw up on his shoes.
Shit, what the hell am I doing? This is insane.
“Hey!” Bill grabbed his arm. “Get a move on.”
Joe rushed out into the wide, open area of the hall and was horrified. Ripped, leaking corpses scattered the floor. Severed organs and dismembered limbs littered every corner. Joe’s foot almost slipped as it landed in a puddle of congealing blood. He stopped still, unable to take another step. The fake animals that lined the edges of the room seemed to glare at him, ready to come to life and devour him. “I don’t think I can do this. All these people…”
Bill came to face him. “Hey, look at me. Don’t look at them. We can’t do anything for them. My boyfriend might be here somewhere, but I can’t think about that right now. Let’s just do what we came here to do and then we can get away from all this horror.”
Joe nodded and willed his legs to move. Stiffly, he managed to take one step forward, tacky blood trying to suck his shoe back down. The steps after that came easier, and, before long, Joe was moving quickly across the room, heading for the snack machines where he had originally rescued Grace. He tried to ignore all the corpses as he stepped carefully over them, pretending that they were something else.
Like human speed bumps.
He reached the snack machine, and lying between them, like a prize, was a small, purple-leather handbag. Joe sighed and clicked the knuckles of his right hand. “That was easy.”
“Is it there?” Bill shouted across the room.
Joe flinched. Things seemed safe, but that didn’t mean they should raise their voices. He turned in Bill’s direction and decided to just nod instead of saying anything back. He picked up the bag. It was heavier than he had expected it to be, but he wasn’t willing to look inside. You should never look in a ladies handbag without her permission, his mother had always told him and the lesson was still ingrained in him today.
Time to go. I got what I came for.
Joe turned around and held the bag up so that Bill could see it. For some reason the other man didn’t seem relieved. In fact he looked concerned.
Something snatched the bag from Joe’s hand.
Joe spun around to find a monkey sitting atop one of the snack machines. It was one of the cute little white-faced monkeys that you always saw in films. Capuchin is it? But, right now, the animal was far from cute. It was covered in blood and snarling at Joe with murder in its feral eyes.
“Holy shit!” Joe leapt away instinctively and started to run. Behind him the monkey screeched at a pitch so high it could break glass. Joe stopped and spun around. He couldn’t leave without Grace’s bag.
“Come on, man,” Bill shouted urgently. “Get your ass away from that thing.”
“I need the bag.”
“Leave the bag. It’s not worth it.”
Joe headed back to the monkey. It was holding the bag above its head like a trophy, hooting as though it were boasting some great victory over Joe.
That bag belongs to me, you little fleabag.
Joe decided the only tactic he had at his disposal was surprise. He rushed the monkey, made a quick snatch for the handbag. His fingers found the strappy handle and clenched tight. The monkey pulled back. A tug of war ensued.
“Let go, you bastard!” Joe pulled with all of his might and managed to dislodge both the monkey and the handbag. Both hurtled across the room before skidding on the blood soaked tiles. Joe sprinted towards them.
“Joe, stop!” Bill shouted. “Get back!”
Joe halted, heels skidding in a pool of blood. Lined up in the outdoor entrance were the four lions that had ripped so many people apart, days before. They seemed even bigger than before and even more blood stained their snouts. Joe’s spine damn near froze stiff, but he somehow managed to take a slow step toward Grace’s bag. Before he could take another, the lions made a move.
Joe dodged to the left just as one of the females made a swipe at him.
“Damn it!” Bill shouted again. “Get out of there, now!”
Joe didn’t need to be told twice. He sprinted faster than his legs had ever managed before. His hamstrings felt as if they might snap away from his bones at any moment, but he kept the pace, dodging and leaping between tables like a twenty-year old parkour practitioner.
Bill sprang forward, litter spike in hand, and managed to aim a thrust that hit the nearest lion just as it was about to take Joe down. The animal roared and fell back in an injured hunch, bleeding from a puckering wound in its chest.
Joe grabbed Bill by the arm and pulled him along. The two men dashed for the corridor, ran through the open door. They didn’t stop. Joe could hear the pounding of thick paws behind him, sure that it was only a matter of time before he felt their overwhelming weight bear down on him.
Bill reached the staffroom first, a few steps ahead of Joe, somehow fitter and faster despite being twenty years older. Joe barrelled through after him, felt his legs weaken as the exertion began to take effect.
Inside the staffroom, things were worse.
Monkeys filled the room, teeming in through the broken windows. They were the larger species – Macaques – that had chased everyone upstairs on day one. Joe turned to retreat, but found himself faced with lions from the rear.
“Shit, what do we do?”
“I don’t know,” said Bill, swiping at whichever monkey dared get too close to him. “We’re surrounded.”
The lions closed in behind them. The monkeys came at them from the front. Trapped. Joe thought about Danny – he wanted his last thoughts to be about his son.
“We’re screwed,” said Bill. “Totally screwed.”
“Not yet you’re not,” came a voice across the room.
Both men looked over to see Mason at the foot of the stairwell. He was holding something in his hand. Before Joe could work out what it was, Mason had already thrown it.
The firebomb sailed through the air.
It landed smack-bang in amongst the monkeys. They shrieked and screamed as the flames clung to them. The smell of burning fur consumed the air and stung Joe’s eyes.
“Run for it!” Mason shouted.
Joe and Bill dodged through the flailing monkeys, managing to cut a route towards Mason. The lions stayed back, unnerved by the erratic flames of the fire. It seemed like an eternity to reach the door, but eventually they made it there. They piled through into the corridor and all three of them immediately set about rebuilding the barricade. During that time, Joe heard the sprinkler system come on in the staff room. The fires would go out. The animals would attack again soon.
The barricade was up, and all three men let out long laboured breaths. Joe felt as though the acid in his oesophagus was about to burn right through his chest. Bill looked even worse. In fact, the older man had collapsed to the floor.
It was then that Joe spotted the bleeding.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Randall shook his fist at Victor, could barely contain his anger. “Why did you let Mason leave? If Joe wanted to take a silly risk then that’s his decision, but Mason is an expert on the zoo, and animals in general. Do you not think he needed to be kept out of harm’s way?”
Victor’s hackles were up and he obviously didn’t appreciate being shouted at. Randall didn’t care – the man should not have made a decision without consulting him first. There was a chain of command.
Victor cleared his throat. An aggressive sound. “Listen, pal! Mason wanted to go after Joe and the queer, and I had no right to stop him. We’re not prisoners here. It’s a man’s own choice to do what he thinks is right.”
Randall backed off a little, deciding a different tactic was required. “Of course we’re not prisoners, Victor, but you said yourself that if you hear any trouble downstairs then the barricade stays in place. So why did you move it for Mason?”
“I said I wasn’t about to let anyone back in if I heard trouble. I didn’t say anything about letting people out. Besides, I guess I changed my mind. Sounded like Joe and t
he queer needed help, so I gave it to them.”
Randall sighed. “And what if all three of them are now dead? Mason’s loss would be because of you.”
“Fuck that! Mason is old enough to make his own decisions. I’m not his keeper.”
“Perhaps you should be!”
“What you talking about?”
Randall placed a hand on Victor’s bony shoulder and eased him down onto a gap in the barricade. “Victor, it’s just us now. Keep this to yourself, but I managed to make a call on my phone to the emergency services.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed. “What phone?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that when I called 999 there was a message saying that no help is available and that people should barricade themselves in their homes.”
“Aye, well that would be sound advice.”
“But don’t you get it? If there’s no police force then what hope do ordinary people have? How many people have dogs in their homes?”
Victor thought about things for a while, rubbing his hand back and forth over the stubble of his head. “Shit, pal. That’s grim thinking.”
“But realistic, I’m afraid. We are alone in this and we cannot afford to take risks. We need to take control of the situation and keep people safe.”
Victor laughed. “How the hell do we keep people safe? The world’s gone down the crapper.”
“By keeping them under control. From now on, no one does anything without me agreeing to it. I’m in charge, for the simple fact that I am the only one looking at the big picture. Everyone else is being far too rash and emotional for their own good.”
“And what if people don’t want to follow your lead?”
Randall smiled. “That’s where you come in, my friend. I give the orders – you make sure they’re followed. It’s the only way to keep everyone alive. That’s what counts more than anything right now – that we all get through this in one piece. It may seem harsh but it’s the only way. We need to have control.”
Victor nodded slowly. Randall could see the conviction flowing into the man like juice into a beaker. “Okay, boss. I agree. We have to keep everyone in check for their own good. No more running off half-cocked or doing their own thing. From now on, everything that happens goes through us.”
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