by T. L. Walker
"There’s just three of you, then?" Joey asked in disbelief. "If that’s the case, why not tell us before? Or…why suddenly tell us now?"
Richard stepped into a room on the right side of the hallway; we followed him and waited for a response. He perched on the corner of his desk and gestured to the chairs in front of it. I took one, Lauren and Mabel the other, while Joey leaned against the wall behind us.
"Yes, there are only three of us. Surely you understand why I didn’t care to admit that right away; as for telling you now, well…it would be a very short matter of time before you found out. I assumed that you would appreciate my honesty."
I made sure to speak up before Joey could do so. "It certainly helps that we didn’t have to…find that out on our own, I suppose."
Just then a young man burst into the room. "Everything is good for now, Doctor Rich – " He caught sight of us then, and his mouth dropped open.
"Ethan, these people are guests of ours." Richard stood and laid his hand on the young man’s shoulder. "Say hello."
"He – hello." Ethan spoke slowly, haltingly, but I could tell that it wasn’t just from shock.
Richard must have seen the look on my face. "Ethan here is Virginia’s son. They were two of the zoo’s best volunteers. They spent a lot of time here…and happened to be here when…"
"Everything went to hell," I finished. Richard nodded; forcing a smile, I stood and held my hand out to Ethan. "I’m Charlie."
He gave it a wary glance, then looked away without offering his own, merely mumbling, "Nice to meet you."
I shoved my hands in my pockets and faced Richard. He had a look on his face that said he would explain later; I decided to bring the conversation back around. "Here’s me being honest, then – the two guys in my car need immediate assistance. I got them some medicine but...they’re in bad shape. Especially the blonde one. Luke." I hated the way my voice cracked when I said his name.
"And in return, we get…?" Richard was stern, insistent even.
"Our protection," Joey snapped.
"And equal access to our weapons," I promised, hoping that my brother’s attitude would go unnoticed.
Richard stared at Joey for a few moments. "Equal access?"
"Equal access," I repeated.
"What kind of weapons, Doc – "
"Guns, Ethan. So I help with your friends, and no matter what happens…"
"We assist you in return, for as long as we’re welcome here."
"I suppose that’s a deal we can agree to." Richard held out his hand, glancing at Ethan as I withdrew my own hand from my pocket and shook Richard’s. The young man looked away from us and scuffed his feet against the ground; Richard sighed and released his grip. "Let’s see to your people."
He led us back outside and down the same path we’d walked earlier, though this time Ethan trailed behind us. He seemed oddly wary of Mabel in particular, and though I couldn’t know for sure, I thought perhaps he was autistic. Sara, a friend of mine from college, had worked with autistic children; she and I had talked about our jobs on a regular basis, and I’d learned quite a bit from her...
Don’t think about that. Don’t think about her, or any other friend. Chances were I’d never know what had become of my friends or extended family, so there was no use dwelling on such things.
It was the sound of a dog barking – Holden, I knew immediately – that pulled me back to reality. Richard turned to me and started to speak, but I held up a hand to stop him. "Holden doesn’t usually bark, not unless something is seriously wrong. You better hope that he and the rest of our people are okay." I broke into a run, calling over my shoulder, "Joey, stay with Lauren and Mabel." I heard Richard pick up his pace as well, but I doubted he could catch or keep up with me – months of dodging zeds had made me a solid mass of muscle built for running, while the good doctor had been holed up behind his fences, safe and sound.
But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I rounded the last corner of the winding path and burst into the open space by the front gate. I practically skidded to a halt, my first reaction being to take a step backward, though I nearly stumbled and fell as I did so. My jaw dropped open of its own accord and for the first time in a long time I was frozen in place, completely unsure of what to do.
My dog was barking at a fucking elephant.
Always assume that things aren’t quite what they seem.
*******
"Not again." Richard had stopped beside me. "Ethan! Take care of this!"
"What do you mean, ‘not again’?"
"Get your dog to stop making a racket and we’ll talk."
I crouched down and whistled softly. "Holden!" I hissed. "Holden!" He stopped barking, but hunkered down and growled as he backed away from the elephant. Ethan was approaching it from the side; I could tell that he was talking to it, but the words were murmured, indistinct. The rest of us were frozen where we’d stopped as the young man finally reached out and touched the animal’s shoulder. Moments later they were walking away, heading the opposite direction into the zoo, and then suddenly Holden was bounding into me, nearly knocking me to the ground. I tucked my arm over him and held him tight until he calmed down, at which point I finally fixed my attention on Richard. "What was that all about?"
"This is a zoo," he shrugged.
"Ohhhh no. No way. You were too pissed off just then to act like it was actually no big deal. Do your animals escape often?" I didn’t even bother to hide the sarcasm in my tone.
"Hush, girl." I turned and saw Virginia standing over me, hand held out to help me up. I eyed it warily, but took it nonetheless. Once I was on my feet she glanced in the direction Ethan had gone. "I’m sorry that happened today of all days. It’s not a regular occurrence. El – that’s her name – is an escape artist, and from time to time Ethan doesn’t chain its gate properly."
"Wonderful." I grimaced. "Any lions or tigers or bears wandering around?"
"Don’t worry about all that. There really aren’t many animals left." Virginia was so matter-of-fact that it made my stomach turn.
"You didn’t…" I couldn’t even bring myself to say it.
"We did not eat them," Richard snapped. "We’re not…barbarians."
"It would have been like eating a pet." Virginia shuddered. "No, we just…knew that we couldn’t feed them. And we didn’t have enough bullets to put them out of their misery. So we let them go."
"You…let them go? As in, opened the gates and let them out into the city? What the hell made you think they would survive that?"
"Probably most of them didn’t. But perhaps some of them did. It’s more of a chance than we could have given them if we’d kept them locked up here in the zoo."
"Fine, whatever, let’s say that the ones that are gone don’t matter. Which ones did you keep, and do I have to worry about something worse than an elephant being around every bend?"
Richard’s shoulders sagged. “Just the elephant. Some monkeys hang around from time to time, but they never come down to the ground. They assume we would try to cage them again, I think."
"How astute," I said drily.
Virginia eyed me the way only a mother could. "There’s goats and chickens as well. We had an interactive petting zoo, taught city kids how to collect chicken eggs, showed them how to milk the goats. Sold some goat milk products, soap and the like, in the gift shop."
That was interesting. "Well. I can’t argue with that. We came from a farm, but it hadn’t really been a working one, and…" I stopped and swallowed the lump that was building in my throat. I couldn’t think about the farm right now, let alone talk about it. "Anyway. Let’s just get Mike and Luke inside, please. We can finish this discussion later."
"Are they contagious?" Richard asked.
"To be honest, I don’t know. We tried to keep the kid, Mike, away from most of us when he started feeling sick...but we’re all fine, and I think we still should have caught it, if it was contagious."
"And the other?"
Damn, he won’t let up, will he?
"Contagious..." I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "No, I really don’t think so. Look, can we talk about this in private?" My people knew about Luke’s hand, of course, but I wasn’t sure that Richard would want Virginia or Ethan to know.
The vet leveled his gaze at me for a moment, then sighed and nodded. "Alright then. You can park the car over there." He gestured to a large alcove-type area in front of what had once been a Siamang enclosure, according to the almost silly ornate sign hanging above the empty cage. "It’s small enough to be hidden from sight if you pull right up to the edge; we can move it later. Virginia will show the others where to keep the truck while we get these boys to my office."
I didn’t think Luke or Mike would care to be called a boy, but I merely set my jaw and nodded. "They’ll need help walking all the way back there."
"I’ve dealt with sick lions, pregnant orangutans, and a hundred other things. I think I can handle a couple of sick men."
I really fucking hope so. If he couldn’t help Luke, I doubted that I would find someone else who could. Not in time to save him.
Holden paced nervously as I moved my car; in the passenger seat, Luke was barely conscious. Mike still seemed to be faring better, and I knew that I couldn’t let Richard see what was wrong with either of them – but especially Luke – until we were well away from the others."Mike, when I get out of this car, you need to ask for that man’s help. I need to staywith Luke. Do you understand?" Mike nodded once, slowly, in response."Okay. Here we go." I slid out of the car, dragging my backpack over my shoulder as I did, and immediately moved around to the front passenger side to deal with Luke. Mike opened his door and set his feet on the ground. He was obviously still weak, and with me preoccupied, Richard stepped forward voluntarily.
We moved a lot slower on this second trip back to the offices. Luke was practically dead weight and dragged me down with every step; eventually I waved Richard on, insisting that I could find my way, promising that I wouldn’t leave the beaten path.
For once, I actually meant it when I made that promise. I had no desire to get lost in this zoo with Luke leaning on me like he was. And he needed medical care. Fast.
But I also needed to talk to him. I wasn’t sure how much we should tell this stranger, and as soon as I saw Richard and Mike disappear around a bend in the path, I staggered to a halt.
"Luke."I waited."Luke!"
"Huh?" He was groggy, but at least he was hearing me.
"In case you haven’t noticed,we’re at the zoo. I’m bringing you to see the vet. But Luke, listen to me. Don’t tell him you were bitten.Not right away. I’m hoping he just...doesn’t ask the right questions. Maybe it’s not the bite at all, you know? Maybe it’s just infected from –"
"I...I don’t...don’t think we should lie. "
"Are you sure? He may hear you’ve been bitten and simply write you off. "
Luke seemed to take hold of himself then; suddenly he was standing on his own; I lost my grip on him, and then he took one slow step, and then another, and another, up the path.
"Fine!"I called out, exasperated."Fine! But at least let me help you."
We moved faster now, though it was still several minutes before I had Luke settled in a chair in Richard’s office while the vet looked over Mike. I was impatient, but I also didn’t want to alarm this man. He may be our only chance.
Finally Richard stepped back."He said he’s had medicine. You remember what you were giving him?"
"Yeah, sure..."I set my bag down and rummaged through it."This."
Richard peered at it for a moment and then finally nodded."Good."He turned back to Mike."I think you just need some food and water and a good long rest, maybe for a day, two at most. Keep taking those while you’re at it."He gestured at the box in my hand, and then finally approached Luke."Now, what’s wrong with you?"
We exchanged a look, and in that moment Luke knew that I still had it in me to lie."I was bitten,"he admitted, then quickly rushed on to say,"We took off the fingers well below where the zed got hold of me, but I’ve been..."
"He’s just been out of it,"I interrupted."Weak. A bit feverish, yeah, but truth be told I’m more worried about the method we used to remove the fingers than the bites that started this whole mess."
The veterinarian was trembling, and I instinctively knew that it wasn’t in fear – he was angry. Really, really angry.
"You brought an infected man into this zoo? You saw our few strengths, our many weaknesses, and you decided that it was okayto put us in this much danger?!"
"Please, please, we’ll leave as soon as you’ve looked after him, if we have to,"I pleaded, wondering just how royally we’d fucked things up."He’s fine right now, he’s still alive, he’s still lucid. I wouldn’t have brought him in here otherwise –"
"Tie me down," Luke said suddenly.
Both Richard and I turned to face him, asking,"What?" at the same time. It was almost comical.
But Luke wasn’t laughing."You must have ropes here, or at least more chains than the one that’s on your gate. If you’re so worried about me dying and then rising up to attack you, just tie me down."
I looked at the vet; he was still watching Luke, his gaze wary."All of you, stay here. I’ll go get some rope...or something. But not before you answer this – has anyone else in your group been bitten?"
"No,"I replied quickly."Just Luke. I swear it."
Richard hesitated for a moment."You haven’t been bitten?" he asked Mike.
"No, sir."
"Right. Okay. Like I said, stay here."He left us then, and was gone for several minutes. He’d shut us in the office, but we still heard a door open, some rummaging – he wasn’t far down the hall – and when he came back, he had a large tube of zip ties and a thick coil of soft rope. I tried to help Richard as he led Luke to his desk chair and began securing his legs and arms, but he wouldn’t have it."I’ll make sure he’s secure myself."
Luke’s eyes met mine, and without him saying anything I knew that he was thinking,"I told you so." At that point I didn’t even want to consider what Richard would have done had we waited any longer to tell him about Luke’s bites; I merely nodded my head in agreement. Yes, you were right.
Finally the vet seemed confident that Luke wasn’t going anywhere. Richard had zip-tied Luke’s hands together behind the back of the chair, then used more zip ties to bind his feet as well. The rope was wound around his chest, his upper legs, and the chair so many times that I almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
"Help me wheel him into the light," Richard ordered. I immediately obeyed, then knelt to watch him unwrap Luke’s hand and tell him about the bites.
"It was a clean chop,"the vet murmured,"but a dirty blade, I’m guessing?"
"I definitely wouldn’t have called it clean."
Richard stood and walked away, pacing in front of his desk for aminute before finally saying,"I think – I think– we just need to cut away some flesh, clean the wound, and re-bandage it. He’ll have to stay locked up, at the very least – and alone – but I believe that if we do that, I can reassess the situation tomorrow. That may be all he needs. Or..." Here he paused, looked down at the floor, and cleared his throat.
"Or?" I prompted.
"Or we may need to take off the hand. At least. Maybe even the whole arm. Regardless, what we do...it will need to be a quick decision. But after that, I think he’d have a perfectly good chance of survival."
Survival. There was that damn word again. But this isn’t your decision. "What do you say, Luke?"
"Do it. We’ll...we’ll figure everything else out tomorrow." There was no heart behind Luke’s words, but he said them nonetheless, and so the veterinarian went to work. He wheeled the desk chair into a clean room, Luke still tied down despite the fact that he seemed more with it than he had in days. Richard insisted that Mike stay in his office; I had the feeling he would have tried the same with me, but I shoved my way in be
hind them.
Luke eyed me, his gaze still a bit unfocused. "You sure you want to be in here? I have a feeling this won't be pleasant."
"Nothing about anything is really pleasant anymore. And yeah, I want to be here for you. Hold your hand." Your other hand, anyway.
"Yeah, thankfully I still have the one good hand." Luke's smile was pained, but at least he was making some attempt at humor again.
I favored him with a coy smile. "For both our sakes, hmm?"
Luke rolled his eyes, but Richard was too busy prepping to take note of my lewd comments. By the time he turned back to us I'd put on my most innocent expression and stepped forward to entwine my fingers with Luke's. It was awkward, doing so around the rope that bound them to the chair; I could even feel the edge of the zip ties that held them together cutting into my wrist, but then the vet reached around and cut through the plastic, pulling the injured appendage out of the ropes and setting it on the portable table that he'd placed next to the chair. He immediately grabbed a roll of duct tape and wound several strips of it around Luke's arm, binding him to the small work surface.
I eyed Richard with trepidation. "Is that really necessary?"
"Maybe not, but I don't trust you, I don't trust him, and I don't know what will happen here. I've never seen anyone who's been bitten...not anyone still alive, I mean."
"Right." I knew that he was trying to tell me that this was probably a waste of time, a worthless attempt to save a life already doomed, but I didn't want to believe it – couldn't believe it. Not really.
The next hour was a blur of pain for me as Luke clung to my hand, breath hissing through his teeth as he clenched his jaw against the torture of Richard poking and prodding at his severed fingers. On a good day Luke knew his own strength...but I had to face the fact that the good days were probably long gone. So I bit my lip and let him squeeze, reminding myself that whatever I was feeling, he had it much, much worse.
Finally the vet was binding the hand up again. Luke's eyes were glazed over and I was surprised that he hadn't passed out. "Where will he be staying tonight? He needs to lie down, not be tied upright in this chair."