Cryptid Zoo

by Gerry Griffiths

  “My God, Nick,” Meg said. “Is Carter Wilde out of his mind? Why would he even create such a place?”

  Nick shook his head. “Maybe he meant for it to be a scream park.”

  “You guys okay?” Jack asked, looking at Nick and his family.

  “We’re still alive if that’s what you mean,” Nick smiled sheepishly.

  Jack glanced over at Miguel. “Gather everyone up and head for the main entrance.”

  “Aren’t you coming?” Miguel asked.

  “I have to find Nora. Make sure she’s okay.” Jack turned and took off into the dark.

  Meg looked at Nick. “See, I told you they were an item.”

  28

  LAB RAT

  Dr. McCabe had spent an hour preparing the backroom in the laboratory for surgery. He wore lime-green surgical scrubs, nitrile gloves, and a blue mask over his nose that covered some of his beard.

  Two battery-operated camping lanterns were set up on each side of the operating table so as not to cast shadows over his work. A cart was next to the operating table and was filled with surgical tools, each item laid out in the proper order of usage, as he didn’t have anyone assisting him during the procedure and didn’t want to be distracted groping around for the correct implement, none of which were sterilized.

  As the door leading into the lab had a window, he’d covered the glass with black plastic to block out the light so no one would know he was back there.

  He gazed down at his patient.

  The pregnant chupacabra was semi-unconscious from a mild sedative and was lying on her back on the small operating table. Both of her arms were at right angles like she was being crucified and were strapped down on arm boards with tight Velcro. Her feet were slightly spread apart and were bound by the ankles to the end of the table.

  Her protruding belly looked like a ripe watermelon. The taut skin would bulge in places as the babies moved about inside her womb.

  Dr. McCabe grabbed a scalpel from the cart and made his first incision down the mid-line section of the mother’s abdomen. Blood started to seep out of the thin wound exposing a layer of yellow fat and the fibrous fascia over the stomach muscles. He made another incision, cutting through the layer from the upper abdomen to the pubic bone, and set the scalpel on a towel.

  He used a pair of scissors to further open the cavity then pressed the tissue apart with his gloved fingers. He continued to use the scissors and snipped through the peritoneum, the next layer covering the bowel.

  Normally he’d be extra careful so as not to nick the bladder, causing an infection but he wasn’t concerned about the patient’s well-being and time was of the essence so he just delved into the next stage.

  He took the same scalpel and made another incision then used a retractor to widen the opening. He pushed away the bladder, exposing the uterus and counted three babies.

  Stepping on a foot pedal under the operating table, he turned on the suction pump and used a hose to remove most of the blood covering the babies to prevent them from drowning in their mother’s fluids. He shoved in some sponges to soak up more of the blood.

  He took each baby out, snipped the umbilical cords, and clamped the bellybutton nubs. He cleaned them up with a towel and placed them in a large incubator on a wheeled cart.

  They were as ugly as their mother—maybe even more so—and made creepy little mewing sounds.

  He removed his mask and scrubs and tossed them on the floor. Backing across the room and pulling the incubator cart, he opened the adjacent soundproof door with his hip.

  The cacophony of sounds was like walking into a jungle teeming with wildlife and got even louder as he came inside the cryptid nursery. He pulled the cart all the way into the room and let the door close.

  Many of the cages had been removed from their shelves and niches and were stacked on pushcarts ready to be transported in the event of an evacuation.

  A baby bigfoot stared out through its tiny bars.

  Thunderbird chicks hopped about on their perches. A red-eyed mothman peered out from its gloomy cage. A couple of ahools hung upside down with their wings wrapped around their small bodies.

  A black mngwa kitten and a blue tiger kitten were curled up in the back of their cage next to a Bergman’s bear cub.

  A Buru flicked out its thin tongue and hissed from its cage as the other reptilian cryptids moved about in their separate glass terrariums.

  Two miniature-sized sauropods stood in an open crate.

  Inside a sealed Plexiglas cube resided a mysterious gelatin glob.

  The other bioengineered infants watched the doctor with mild curiosity.

  Dr. McCabe looked down at the incubator and was surprised to see the three baby chupacabras roll over onto their bellies, push themselves up into standing positions then press their tiny two-fingered hands against the glass and begin to bawl.

  Their cries were so loud Dr. McCabe had to cover his ears.

  “Shut up!” he screamed. When he took his hands away, he was shocked to discover that all the creatures in the nursery had gone quiet except for the keening chupacabras.

  Unable to take it anymore, Dr. McCabe grabbed the handle and opened the soundproof door into his impromptu surgical theater.

  The mother chupacabra was wide awake, her head raised off the operating table with a horrified look her on her hideous face, gawking at the gaping hole in her abdomen and shrieking as she fought fretfully to free herself from her restraints.

  29

  LENNIE

  If Jack didn’t know any better, he would have sworn he was running through a battlefield with all the random gunfire and the distant screams. He had his rifle slung over his shoulder across his back as he found it easier to run armed with his Colt .45 magnum revolver.

  He caught a glimpse of a gun muzzle flash to his left and silhouettes of people running madly through the grounds.

  Somewhere in the darkness an animal yowled, most likely one of the big cats.

  High overhead, a loud squawk echoed in the cavernous dome.

  He reached the main entrance to the laboratory and animatronics workshop complex and went in slowly. He crept down the tenebrous hallway past the windows facing into the lab, his gun cocked and ready. The obscure room was dark and it didn’t appear like anyone was inside. He tried the door and found it to be locked.

  Further down the corridor, he saw movement beyond an open door.

  “Anyone there?” he called out, not knowing if it were a person hiding in the room or a creature waiting to jump out at him.

  “Who’s asking?” answered a voice.

  “Jack Tremens!”

  “Hey, Jack! It’s Burt.”

  Jack rushed over just as the special effects wizard appeared in the doorway of the workshop. “It’s like a war zone out there.”

  “Tell me about it.” Burt motioned to the dead yeti lying on the floor in a puddle of blood next to its severed arm.

  “You did that?” Jack asked.

  “You might say I had some help,” Burt replied with a grin.

  “None the less, you might want to stay inside until we get a better handle on things.”

  “You didn’t by any chance see the professor and those two zookeepers?” Burt asked.

  “No. I came over thinking Nora was here.”

  “They went over to the Biped Habitat.”

  “What? Doesn’t she know these animals have gone berserk?”

  “She was worried about the yeren.”

  “I think that big ape can take care of itself.”

  “Apparently, she thinks differently.”

  “All right. Once I find them, we’ll swing back for you.”

  “Okay, Jack. You be careful.”

  Jack dashed down the hallway. He went out the side exit door and followed the path leading over to the other building.

  Before entering, he took a moment to listen for any animal sounds. When he didn’t hear anything, he walked through the open doorway and went inside.r />
  The first thing he noticed was the putrid smell. He switched on his flashlight and shone the beam down the hall.

  There were brown splats on the floor: bili ape crap.

  He stepped around the smeared piles and continued down the hall to the observation area.

  As he hadn’t heard any noise, he thought he’d take a chance and make his presence known. “Anyone in here?” he yelled out.

  Jack placed the flashlight alongside the barrel of his gun and slowly turned around in a circle. He didn’t see any activity until his light shone into the yeti habitat and he saw one of the creatures crouched in front of the snow cave. Even though the bright light was shining directly into its eyes, it didn’t look away. When it didn’t react, Jack knew it had to be the animatronic and wasn’t a threat as it was programmed to remain where it was.

  He panned the light to the yeren habitat. The door was wide open and something was moving behind the big ferns. He kept his gun pointed straight ahead and shined the beam on the dense vegetation.

  “Jack?” a woman’s voice said from behind a giant frond.

  “Nora. What are you doing back there?”

  “We’re hiding with the big fella. You better get in here quick!”

  Jack lowered his gun. He shined the flashlight on the floor and was about to step into the enclosure when he heard scampering feet behind him. He spun around and shined the light into the hall.

  Four chupacabras screeched and recoiled from the bright light.

  Jack switched off the flashlight then turned it back on, catching a fleeting glimpse of the goatsuckers scampering out the main entrance and disappearing into the dark.

  “It’s okay, they’re gone.”

  “Are you sure?” Nora asked, poking her head out from behind the large leaf.

  “Trust me, they’re gone.”

  Nora came out of the bushes and was followed by two zookeepers that Jack knew only by their first names, Cam and Tilly.

  “Where’s your boyfriend?” Jack asked. He’d often kidded Nora that she spent way too much time with the timid 12-foot tall ape-man, which bonded to her like an endearing pet. The creature reminded Jack of the John Steinbeck character, Lennie Small in the novella Of Mice and Men.

  Nora turned and whistled softly like a chirping bird.

  The giant ape-man stomped out of the brush, knocking over a fake tree with a swing of its arm.

  Jack always thought the Chinese wildman looked like an orangutan wearing a baseball umpire’s chest protector and had the misfortune of being sent to the dungeon and stretched on a torture rack.

  He was about to make a wisecrack when Nora pointed over his shoulder and screamed, “Oh my God, Jack, I thought you scared them off?”

  “I did.” Jack turned and was surprised to see a bigfoot standing in the open doorway. The eight-foot tall sasquatch snarled and stormed into the enclosure.

  Jack fired one shot then another.

  The first bullet struck the hairy creature in the shoulder, causing it to falter and clamp a beefy hand over the wound. Then the second slug creased the bigfoot’s cheekbone, shearing off a patch of its face. Blood flowed out of the gash and poured down its neck.

  Jack hoped it would be enough to make it turn and run but he was wrong.

  The beast hunched its shoulders in a hostile stance and glared at Jack.

  “I’ll stay and hold it off while you run out the back,” Jack said, glancing over at Nora and the two zookeepers.

  “We might get trapped,” Tilly said. “The rear doors aren’t working properly.”

  “She’s right. We were going to report it but never got the chance,” Cam said.

  Jack took a step back. Cam and Tilly were to the right of Nora who was standing directly in front of the tall ape-man.

  The yeren stared at the savage creature standing only fifteen feet away but didn’t show any signs of aggression. Jack feared the good-natured ape-man was too passive to realize the potential danger it was really in.

  Again, the Chinese wild man reminded Jack so much of the man-child, Lennie from Steinbeck’s story.

  The bigfoot charged.

  Jack aimed for the center of its chest and pulled the trigger. The hammer came down with a disturbing click. He’d been in such a hurry rushing over to find Nora that he had neglected to reload after leaving the hotel.

  He dropped the big revolver.

  Reaching back, he grabbed the butt stock of his rifle slung over his back, and swung the barrel up, sticking his finger into the trigger guard...

  The bigfoot struck Jack such a powerful blow he was knocked off his feet and sent flying back into the jungle foliage. Hitting the ground, he felt like a mule had kicked him. He gasped for air hoping the bigfoot hadn’t broken his ribs.

  “Hey, get back!” Cam yelled. He had grabbed a tree branch and was swinging it back and forth trying to scare the bigfoot. Tilly was standing next to Cam, wielding a long stick at the beast, which at the moment seemed more interested in Nora. It was as though it understood that the woman was responsible for its deployable existence being locked up and now had a way of seeking revenge.

  Jack started to reach for his rifle but a sharp pain in his side made him wince. He gazed around and saw his revolver almost within reach only five feet away, but still useless without bullets.

  When Cam and Tilly moved to protect Jack, the bigfoot lunged at them. It backhanded Cam across the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. Then it swung its other arm, cuffing Tilly on the side of the head and sending her into the bushes.

  The sasquatch growled and went for Nora.

  Nora screamed and crossed her arms in front of her chest to fend off its attack.

  The yeren grabbed Nora by the shoulder with its enormous hand and pulled her back out of the path of the charging beast. The Chinese ape-man raised its right fist and came down like a sledgehammer directly on top of the bigfoot’s head, cracking its skull.

  Before the humanoid had time to fall, the yeren grabbed the 600-pound sasquatch by the arm, spun it around, and flung the creature through the glass partition. Glass shards exploded everywhere and hailed down on the floor on top of the bigfoot.

  Though it was severely wounded, the bigfoot still attempted to get up.

  Jack had just sat up when he heard rapid gunfire.

  The bigfoot jerked and twitched as each bullet punched into its body before falling flat on its face.

  A security guard dashed down the hallway, ejecting the clip from his assault rifle and slapping in a new one. “Professor Howard, move out of the way.” He raised his weapon and aimed at the yeren.

  “No, stop!” Nora screamed, raising her hands in the air and stepping in front of the giant ape-man.

  “We’ve got our orders to kill these creatures on sight.”

  “Over your dead body,” Jack said. He was on his feet but struggling with his rifle.

  “I have my orders.” The guard aimed at the towering yeren.

  “Don’t shoot, please don’t shoot,” Nora pleaded.

  “Screw your orders. I’m telling you to...” but Jack never finished his sentence because the man was suddenly attacked from behind by a giant mngwa and slammed to the floor. The black leopard raked its claws into the man’s back and bit out the back of his head.

  The big cat turned and dragged the dead man off down the hall toward the exterior door.

  “Jesus, that thing just came out of nowhere,” Cam said.

  “Is anyone hurt?” Jack asked, taking shallow breaths.

  Nora looked at Tilly and Cam. “You guys took quite a wallop.”

  “Just a few little bruises,” Tilly said and turned to Cam. “Right?”

  “Yeah, but that bigfoot would have killed us for sure if it weren’t for the yeren,” Cam said rubbing his shoulder.

  “Looks like we owe Lennie a debt of gratitude,” Jack said.

  “Lennie?” Nora asked.

  “Don’t you think it’s about time you gave your boyfriend a n
ame?”

  Nora looked up at the Chinese ape-man. “What do you think? Should we call you Lennie?”

  The 12-foot tall yeren looked down, stuck the tip of its tongue out between its black lips, and made everyone laugh when it blew Nora a raspberry.

  30

  SMACKDOWN

  When Ivan spotted the headlights of two golf carts rolling down the flagstone pathway toward Mammoth Arena, he yelled to the guard accompanying him to hustle and they started jogging to the back of the dome.

  They were almost there when Ivan heard a thunderous crack and saw a five-foot thick section of concrete as big as a billboard sign topple out of the massive enclosure wall. Tons of rubble landed directly on top of the men in the golf carts, crushing them and flattening the vehicles.

  “Son of a bitch!” Ivan yelled.

  Two humongous shapes appeared in the opening.

  The giant ground sloth stumbled out, its massive claws making it difficult for the five-ton prehistoric-era beast to clamber over the chunks of cement.

  Bergman’s bear was right behind the clumsy creature, swiping its flank with its sharp claws.

  The larger animal bellowed and turned. It stood up on its hind legs to confront its attacker using its thick tail as a tripod to balance itself.

  The bear rose up to its full height of sixteen feet and faced the taller elephant-sized Megatherium. It let out a beastly roar and stomped up to the other creature. Each animal swung at the other, slashing through fur and creating monstrously deep wounds.

  Ivan watched as the two embraced in a wrestling hold, each one attempting to overpower the other with pure brute strength.

  The bear opened its mouth, bit into the sloth’s neck, and tore out a chunk of flesh the size of a mattress, creating an enormous wound gushing blood like a ruptured fire hydrant.

  Weakened by the massive loss of blood, the sloth stepped back. Its tail slipped out from under it and the mammoth creature fell backward.

  Ivan felt the tremble under his boots as the sloth hit the ground.