Zoo

by Tara Elizabeth

  He’s warm and steady.

  He calms my ragged breathing.

  He knows not to ask what happened, because he knows exactly what happened.

  I thought I wanted to be left alone, but Kale is exactly who I need right now.

  THE NEXT MORNING

  When I wake, I’m so warm and calm that I almost feel restored. Then I feel the even push of Kale’s breath on the back of my neck and the pressure of his arm holding me tight. I believe that I helped him last night as much as he helped me, but today is a new day. Whatever happened doesn’t change the fact that I can’t be with him that way.

  I easily slip out of his embrace and leave him sleeping in my hut, as I visit the latrines and then the waterfall for a shower. I take off my horrible dress and leave it by the edge of the pool. I’ll wash it later. Right now I need to try to wash away the last remnants of yesterday’s horrors.

  My hair is badly matted from my sweat and tears, mixing with the dirt and grass on the floor of my hut. I dunk my entire body and head under the cool surface and hold my breath for as long as I can. The icy water feels amazing. Not being able to hold my breath a second longer, I push up off the rocky bottom and break the surface. I gasp for air. And of course, Kale’s standing there, staring at me in all my topless glory.

  “Ah! What are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping!” I cover my exposed breasts and turn a brilliant shade of red. The heat burns my cheeks and neck. I knew this would happen eventually.

  Obviously ashamed, Kale averts his dark brown eyes. He clearly did not expect to see me. “I’m so sorry. I woke up and you were gone. I needed a shower. I didn’t see anyone here.” He pulls his cotton shirt back over his defined, tattooed chest.

  “Can you turn around, please?” I ask. I’ve never moved faster in my life than I do at this moment—across the pool, out of the water, and clothes on my body in five seconds flat.

  He turns around, sensing that I’m done re-dressing. “Look, I’m really sorry, okay? The last thing I want to do is upset you even more after our punishment.”

  My anger recedes as I remember what he did for me. “No. I’m sorry. I really appreciate what you did for me yesterday with the mud and helping me get through last night. I’m so sorry that you had to see whatever it was they showed you. Really. I am so sorry.”

  “I acted on my own. I wanted to protect you. So don’t be sorry. And last night you helped me too.” He looks at me with truth in his eyes.

  He reaches for my hand, but I step back, away from him and his kind gesture. Regretfully, I tell him, “I know they threatened us with the transfer if we don’t mate, but I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t care what they threaten us or me with. I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do. And I certainly don’t want to mate with you.”

  His admission stings a little, but he’s only telling me what I just told him. “Well, good then. We’re on the same page. We’ll have to tell Janice and Greg—about the transfer, I mean,” I say as I take another step back.

  “Fine by me. Well look, if you’re done, I’m going to go ahead and take that shower now.” I scurry into the jungle as he starts to pull his shirt back off.

  So, the wait for our transfer begins. I wonder how long they will hold off.

  WAITING AND WAITING AND WAITING

  The longest six weeks of my life have just passed. Janice’s uber flat stomach has the tiniest hint of a baby growing inside of it. Kale has kept his distance from me, sleeping by the rock wall and avoiding me during the day. I’ve become something of a vegetarian, because I haven’t wanted to join the others at meal times for Janice’s cooking, and I refuse to gut a fish on my own—hence, vegetarian by default. I can’t get over the guilt I feel for dooming Kale to an unknown fate. And while I’m happy for Janice and Greg, the thought of them bringing a baby into this world disgusts me.

  Auntie Josephine has become my only source of entertainment or regular human interaction. She sings lullabies to me sometimes—one in particular that she said she sang to her husband every night before he died. She’s such a sweet woman. Sometimes we play poker. Josephine deals the cards out on her little side table, holds mine up for me to see, and then places them facedown on the table as I dole out my instructions. She always beats me.

  It took me two weeks to work up the nerve to communicate with James again. He looked for me every morning. He pushed for me to tell him what they did to me as my second warning, but I didn’t and still haven’t answered him. I told him he didn’t want to find out. After we moved past that, we had our regular nice conversations. He’s once again become a nice distraction to the world around me. I feel close to him without being physically close to him.

  There was never another protest as I had hoped or planned for. I did see the man with the watch four more times. On three of those occasions, a young woman accompanied him. She was close to his age with white-blonde hair and skin that was even lighter than her beautiful mane—just like me. She wore an ornate mask that covered all of her face. It was black with sapphires and rubies, and it sparkled when the sun hit it. It was beautiful. I’ve decided that they aren’t lovers since they’ve never touched, but they are very familiar with one another.

  The man still taps his watch when he comes to watch Kale and me. I haven’t figured out why yet. The least he could do is make a sign or play charades to give us a hint.

  Today is Sunday. The park is closed and the Keepers are due for a visit at any moment. Each Sunday that they’ve visited, since our second punishment, they’ve left me shaking their heads. My womb is empty of the life they are hoping to find growing there. Today they will get the same negative result.

  I sit, just outside my hut under the apple tree, twirling my lackluster hair around my finger. There’s no use in hiding from them.

  The sun is almost directly overhead now, and I’ve taken to drawing hearts and Emma + James in the dirt like a lovesick tween. Why haven’t they come yet? It’s too late in the day for them to just be late. What’s going on? Did I miss them?

  I walk toward the fishpond where Janice and Greg are hunting for lunch. Janice is kneeling next to the water’s edge with her short dress tucked under her bottom. Greg has fashioned a fishing pole out of a thin tree branch and some vines. I wonder if Janice has told him he can simply reach in and grab the fish. She’s probably stroking his ego by letting him catch them the “regular” way. They’re so weird.

  I interrupt their venture and ask them, “Did I miss the Keepers today or something?”

  Greg answers me, “We were just talking about that. It’s strange that they haven’t come yet, right?” He hasn’t shaved in a few days, and his stubble looks out of place on his normally clean face. It’s the first sign of edginess I’ve seen from him, besides knocking up Janice without being married to her. I don’t think that was really done in his time.

  “Yeah, it’s strange.” I drift away from the couple and walk toward the glass where I see James, the other cowboy, and the two sisters. They’re looking back across at us. I look around our enclosure, wondering where Kale is and then look back over to James who is holding his hands up in question.

  I shake my head no. I don’t know what’s going on.

  Wait. What’s that?

  I see it first in James’ enclosure. A white mist is rolling down the glass. It’s also creeping into our enclosure, curling and pluming, as it tumbles down the smooth surface. Panic fills me, an emotion I haven’t felt in a long six weeks. James is pointing at the top of our enclosure.

  Duh, James! I see it too! I scream at him in my head. I point to the top of his dome in response.

  Behind him, the smaller girl falls unconscious and hits the ground at her sister’s feet. James spins on his heel to see what’s wrong. He’s bending over the girl, searching her neck for a pulse, when the taller girl and man fall beside them. James is only seconds behind. His body collapses over the petite sister.

  They’re not moving.
Shit!

  I cover my mouth and nose with the neck of my dress. Then I run back toward Janice and Greg, screaming, “Cover your nose and mouth! Don’t breathe it in!”

  Too late.

  Greg slumps over, his makeshift fishing pole rolling out of his limp hands. I make it to Janice just in time to pull her head out of the pond water before she drowns. I drag her by the arms across the ground so that she’s resting next to her partner.

  The exertion has cost me. My dress dropped from my nose and mouth when I reached out to save my enclosure-mate. I gasp and fall to my knees. I fight the pull of sleep, but only for a second.

  THE TRANSFER

  My head is heavy. I can’t lift it just yet. My eyes flutter open. Barely.

  I can see my lap. My sack dress is hardly covering my lady parts and my legs are fully exposed. I struggle to inch backward and work the dress down my legs, but I can’t move my body at all.

  I force my eyes to stay open, as I slowly lift my burdensome head. I see a steel floor below me lined by a string of small lights on either side of an aisle. They look like Christmas lights. I almost giggle, but then remember that this is actually a scary thing that’s happening.

  Across from me, I see brown leather cowboy boots with an intricate pattern. My heart surges as I hope to see James’ face looking back at me. I move my eyes upward and see blue jeans, a button-up shirt, tan skin, brown eyes, and brown hair. It’s not him. Maybe if I close my eyes and reopen them, I’ll see James sitting across from me . . . Nope.

  Next to the cowboy—that is not James—is a beautiful Japanese woman. She is dressed like a geisha in a luxurious, red robe. Her face is painted white, and her lips are a bright red that match the exact shade of her dress. I’m sad to see that her flowing tears have ruined the image her stark white makeup creates. They have left streaks down her cheeks, exposing her darker flesh.

  Both of the people across from me and the two next to them are immobilized in their seats by leg, arm, chest, and head restraints. I buck in my seat and find that I share the same fate. I try to twist my head to see how many people are in here, but I can’t. I can’t!

  I can feel that we are moving. This is the transfer they warned us about. It’s happening now. I buck in my seat again, fighting with all my might against the restraints. They don’t give an inch.

  The men, women, and children surrounding me are crying and complaining. Some are cursing at the Keepers that we can’t see. Languages I’ve never heard before are being spoken and yelled. My panic increases and I join in the disquiet. My sobs are even restrained by the chest harness, which reduces them to whimpers. I hate being this weak, but I’m scared. My courage has fled and left me with its nemesis—cowardice.

  I am so close to the prisoners on both sides of me. Our outer thighs even touch. But I am surprised when someone’s fingers thread mine. The hand is rough and sturdy.

  I know this hand. I squeeze it tight.

  “Shh. It’s going to be okay. Shh. I’m here Emma.” Kale reassures me in the calmest tone I’ve ever heard him use. How can he be so relaxed? Why isn’t he frightened like the rest of us?

  The vehicle comes to an abrupt stop. My head smushes further into the restraint, and my heart beats faster—if that’s even possible. Something shifts and pulses in the back of the container. Sunlight streams in, causing everyone to squint their eyes. Then there’s the sound of air compressing, followed by a click. And finally, our restraints unlock and disappear somewhere into the vehicle.

  It takes several seconds for people to stand and shuffle toward the light. Kale, still holding my hand, pulls me to my feet. I wipe the tears from my face with my free hand and follow close behind him. I let him lead me for now. I’m too vulnerable to make clear decisions. I know that I can get through this on my own, but right now I don’t want to, nor do I have to. I just need a minute to think and regroup.

  We pause at the cusp of the people transporter and gaze upon the grandeur and nothingness of our new enclosure.

  ANOTHER NEW BEGINNING

  There are three transporters lined up next to one another. Each appears to have carried about a dozen people. They look like the containers I used to see on the back of 18-wheelers in my time, but there is no cab or driver. The container is chrome and blinding when the sun bounces off its surface.

  If this is an enclosure, it’s not like the one we occupied this morning. In fact, it’s not like the zoo we were in at all. There are no walkways or refreshment stands or people hanging around on the other side of the glass. This dome is so large that I only see the glass wall next to us, because the rest of it soars into the sky and disappears from view.

  We have been released in a grassless clearing surrounded by a dense forest. My bare feet get covered in the dusty dirt within seconds of walking in it. There are pine needles that have fallen from high-reaching pine trees mixed in with the dirt. The trees that rise up before us are so thick that we can’t see past them. Surely, this can’t be everything. Dirt and pine trees…

  Everyone is standing outside the containers, stunned and dazed. Upon first glancing at them, I think that none of us have anything in common. Cowboys, geishas, crusaders, African tribal peoples, housewives, old, young, and so many more crowd the flat area. But, of course, we do share this experience. We are all allies at this moment.

  I have a feeling it won’t last long.

  To the right of us, the crowd starts to become agitated. It spreads out in places and converges in others. I struggle to see what they are seeing. A woman shrieks as three large men dressed like Vikings surge out of the woods, each carrying a sword. Kale pushes me behind him as the men head toward all of us newcomers. They appear to be searching for women. One of them yanks the Geisha woman by the arm and she screams. She struggles against him, but she’s so tiny and frail that the leather and fur covered Viking doesn’t even waver from her jerking and kicking.

  The cowboy that was sitting next to her in the transporter, comes to her defense. He charges the brute that has her by the arm. I clutch Kale’s shirt and smash my face between his shoulder blades as the Viking runs his sword clean through the would-have-been hero’s stomach. Kale is backing me away from the group so that we are as far from the barbaric men as possible.

  Another woman screams as she’s been chosen by the largest of the men. I don’t look to see who she is because I don’t want them to catch sight of me. I hold my breath as they finish gathering their prizes, one woman for each of them. And just as quickly as they came, they disappear back into the tree line.

  Behind me, someone is laughing hysterically from within the dark forest. I look up from Kale’s shirt and see a skeletal man hobbling out from behind the thick trunk of a tree. His eyes are amused and crazed. He heckles us while jabbing his gnarled finger at random people within the crowd.

  “Shouldn’t waste time on such things,” he scolds a middle-aged, priestly looking man who is dragging the dead man’s body into one of the transporters. Then he sniffs the air. “Mmm. Fresh meat,” he says with a thick English accent. His raspy laugh makes my stomach turn.

  “Won’t last long, that one.” The man lets out another cackle as he points his cruel, knotted finger at me. “Such a scrawny thing, but pretty. You would have been better off if those men had taken you.”

  Kale grips my hand tight. He makes me feel stronger than I am, and I’m once again able to hold my head up high and face the unknown. But I still find myself wondering if I can survive this. Although, I don’t even know what this is yet.

  Most of the people standing around ignore the crippled man and form small groups, strategizing and voicing their concerns. Some drift off alone into the forest. Kale and I wait and watch.

  Behind us, the transporters’ doors start to rattle and close. I glance inside the empty vessels, where I was restrained minutes ago, and see the long light cord running the length of the floor. Perhaps that could come in handy later on—not the lights of course since they won’t have electricity to
power them, but the cord itself. Who knows what we will face when we leave this place.

  I break my hold on Kale’s hand and sprint into the metal box.

  “Emma!” Kale calls after me.

  I grab the thin cord and yank with all my might. Eventually, one end of the cord comes up off the floor, and I’m able to jerk the rest of it up. Before the door slides shut, I run back out of the transporter with my gain. I carefully wrap the cord around my waist about five times. I tuck the loose end, so it doesn’t fall off. I wish I had my purse.

  “Whew! Didn’t peg you for a smart one. May do well here after all,” says the heckler. He hobbles over to the metal containers and licks the side of one of them, leaving a trail of saliva. Then the transporters slowly recede and disappear into the glass dome, causing the man to screech at the top of his lungs. He throws himself on the ground and paws at the glass wall.

  Kale takes my hand again and pulls me away from the lunatic. “Let’s get out of here,” he says.

  But I hear a girl scream his name. “James!” she wails. “Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me alone here! It’s your fault that I’m here! James!”

  He’s coming towards me. My heart stops. This is it. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for since I first laid eyes on James.

  THE SURPRISE KISS

  My hand falls from Kale’s, and I somehow get closer to James. I don’t remember telling my feet to move. Behind him, the shorter brunette sister from his enclosure is still yelling, “James!” I tune her out as I come face-to-face with him.

  I’m overwhelmed with fear, just like the girl. James has been my distraction from this horrible zoo, and I need a distraction right now. We are inches apart. His blue eyes are even bluer than I had previously thought, and his hair is the color of gold. He is beyond handsome. Who am I kidding—he’s hot!