Animal Kingdom (6 page)

More silence filled the room, along with anxious expressions. No one wanted to talk. No one wanted to get along. To do so would be to admit that things were as bad as they all feared.

“
My name is Grace. I’m twenty-three and I came here today for a job interview. I don’t think I’m going to get it.”

Joe smiled at her, appreciating her effort. “Anybody else?”

Shirley stood up from a chair behind Randall. “My name is Shirley. I’m a retired nurse and I come to the zoo often. It’s only right that we appreciate God’s creatures and enjoy the beauty of his creation.”

The next person stood up – a wiry-muscled bald man, covered in red and green tattoos that covered his sleeveless arms. The one on his right bicep read, HIGHLANDER. “Name’s Victor. I were on a date. The wee gal I was courting died outside, I think.”

Joe was surprised that the man didn’t seem particularly bothered by this, but told himself that people grieved in different ways. “I’m sorry to hear that, Victor. What has happened today is a tragedy.”

“
Ay, a tragedy.” Victor repeated. “Woman had a damn fine backside.”

The comment may have been a joke, but it elicited only a brief moment of awkward silence until the next person stood up.

“
Hi, everyone. You can call me Bill. I’m a self-employed accountant. Came here today with my partner, Gary. He’s…dead too, I guess. I tried to help him, but…”

Suddenly, Victor threw his hands up in the air, letting them fall down and slap against his thighs. “Oh great, we’re stuck in here with a fucking fairy!”

Bill waved an arm at him dismissively. “Oh great, we’re stuck in here with a closed-minded bigot.”

“
What you say to me, fag?”

“
Sorry,” Bill said. “Were you not intending to come across as a bigot? I kind of got the impression that you were.”

Victor stomped towards Bill. His muscles bunched up, ready for a fight. “You don’t get to call me anything, you hear me, faggot?”

Joe got between the two men, towering above them both. “Pack it in! We don’t have to like one another, but at least act like adults.”

“
Dad?”

Joe turned to see that Grace had put Danny down and that his son was now walking towards him in a fuzzy, half-asleep daze. “Hey, sleepy head,” said Joe. “Everything is okay. The adults are just talking.”

Danny rubbed at his eyes. “Why are you shouting?”

Joe picked his son up into his arms. “I’m not shouting, little dude. I was just excited about something.”

“
About the monkeys?”

Joe frowned. “What monkeys?”

Danny rubbed at his eyes once more, before pointing over his father’s shoulder. Joe turned around to see what his son was looking at. The others in the room turned at the same time.

“
Shit pickles,” said Grace beside him. “That’s not good, is it?”

Joe shook his head. “Not good at all.”

Lined up against the long horizontal window of the far wall was row upon row of monkeys. Dozens of human-like faces pressed up against the glass, side by side. They looked almost comical in a way, but a wild spark of sinister intent glistened in their eyes. Joe knew what it was.

It was murder.

Chapter Six

“
What do we do,” Grace cried out, frantic, pulling her hair. “What do we do?”

Joe put a hand on her shoulder whilst simultaneously pulling Danny against his hip. “Just calm down. I don’t think they can get in at us.” As if to question his assertion, one of the monkeys smashed a fisted paw against the glass. Joe flinched and studied the area where the animal had hit. It was cracked, a delicate spiderweb of fractures snaking through the glass where the impact had struck. Joe swallowed. “Actually, maybe you should go ahead and panic.”

“
We need to move upstairs, right now.” Mason rushed across the room, clapping his hands above his head to get everyone’s focus. A door stood at the side of the room and he punched in a code on a square pad beside it. “Everyone, in here, quickly.”

Without argument everyone raced to the door, passing through into the corridor beyond. Joe and Danny went in last, slamming closed the door behind them, hearing it lock automatically.

Mason was waiting for them. “We need to move to the second floor before they get in.”

Joe’s palms were sweaty and he wiped them against his jeans. “Will we be safe up there?”

Mason was already moving again. “Something tells me that we’re not going to be safe
anywhere
soon.”

Joe peered down at Danny, who was looking right back at him. Worry was etched across his delicate face and it made Joe’s heart twist in his chest. He tousled his son’s blond hair and picked him up onto his hip.

Mason shouted back and told them to hurry.

“
Okay,” Joe said. The sound of breaking glass from the staffroom urged him to get moving and he did so quickly, re-joining the fleeing group just as they reached a staircase at the end of the corridor. The steps echoed as Joe took them, two at a time, and more than once he almost lost his balance. Danny’s limp weight in his arms did not help.

At the top of the stairs was another lengthy corridor, carpeted in a cheap navy-blue pile and lined by numerous doors on both sides. Mason was leading everyone into the nearest door on the left. A bronze plaque on the wall beside it read: ZOOLOGICAL LIBRARY AND SEMINAR ROOM.

Joe stepped in beside Mason to find a plush room, full of soft furnishings, chairs and wooden tables, all facing forward toward a lectern at the back of the room near a large ceiling-to-floor window. The other three walls were interspersed with overfilled bookshelves and recently-used whiteboards. The musty smell of old, inked pages filled the air.

“
We need to barricade the door downstairs,” said Mason, “make sure that nothing gets through into the corridor.”

Joe swallowed a lump in his throat. “I don’t quite fancy going back down there. It sounded like they were about to break through the window just before I went up the stairs.”

The tattooed man, Victor, approached them. “I’ll go. A bunch of wee monkeys don’t scare me none.”

“
That’s very brave of you,” Joe admitted.

“
Aye, well it’s not your fault you’re a pussy.”

Joe cleared his throat. “Excuse me? I have a son to look after first and foremost. I’ve already risked my life enough times today.”

Victor sniggered and sauntered away, towards one of the room’s many desks. “Keep telling y’self that, pal.”

Joe shook his head and put his son down on one of the cushion-backed chairs, then took the seat next to him.
I’m not a pussy. I just have other priorities right now. Although, if someone doesn’t go down and barricade that door then we’ll all be in trouble. Maybe I
should
go…

Victor dragged a table over to the doorway and the scraping sound against the thin carpet broke Joe away from his thoughts. He sat and watched the man grab a second table and upend it on top of the first, then shove them both into the corridor outside.

“
Can this situation become any more farcical?” said Randall, complaining again and as upbeat as ever. “A total disaster!”

“
Think I’d have to agree with you there,” said Bill, rummaging through one of the bookshelves. “Things keep going from bad to worse.”

“
We should be okay for now though,” said Mason. “Victor is barricading the door as we speak, and there’s no other way to reach this section of the building apart from the staircase we ascended earlier.”

“
Shouldn’t someone be helping Victor?” Shirley asked.

“
He can handle himself,” said Randall, and Joe was glad to hear it from someone else. “I’d be more concerned about your own hide and the situation we’re in, my dear.”

Bill returned a thick text book to its space on the shelf and turned around. “And what situation are we in exactly? I still don’t know.”

Grace offered an explanation. “I think things are…bad. I mean,
really
bad. If this is happening everywhere then we could be in some serious trouble. There might not be anyone coming for a long time.”

“
That’s ridiculous,” said Randall.

“
I don’t think so,” said Joe. “I’m sure everything will work out eventually, but I don’t see anyone coming by to help for a while. If animals are attacking everywhere then the whole country is going to be in chaos. I didn’t want to admit it at first, but I think we’re all stuck here.”

Mason nodded. “We need to start thinking about settling in, planning for a couple of days here.”

Randall slapped his hands down on one of the tables, startling everyone. “Unacceptable!”

Bill put a hand to his forehead. “Seriously, man, you gotta wake up. This shit is bad and it’s time to forget about business appointments and brunch in the city.”

“
I need to get out of here. I am far too important to be missing in action. There are people who rely on me.”

“
Those people are probably dead,” said Grace.

The suggestion seemed to hit home to Randall and he stood there silently, swaying back and forth slightly as his mouth moved in speechless quivers.

“
I’m sorry,” said Joe, “but that’s most likely true. I think we’re alone for now. We should just count ourselves lucky that we’re alive.”

“
Count
yourself
lucky,” Randall spat. “I don’t see it that way.”

Joe put his hands up. “Fine, but can you at least accept the situation we’re in?”

Randall moved away from the group and sat down. That was fine by Joe. The further away the piggish little man was the better. He leant back in his chair and looked at his son. “You’ve been a really good boy today, Danny. Very quiet and well behaved.”

“
The animals are after us, aren’t they? They don’t want to be in cages no more.”

Joe thought about lying to the frightened boy, but didn’t. “Something has made them really mad at us,” he admitted, “but I’m going to look after you.”

“
Promise?”

Joe smiled and said, “Ohhhh yeahhhhh!”

Danny laughed hard. “Macho Man!”

“
That’s right. Anything that tries to hurt you will get the big elbow drop.”

Bill and Grace joined Joe and Danny at the table, attracted by the noise. “Everything okay here?” Grace asked.

“
I was just telling Danny what a good boy he’s been.”

“
You’re telling me!” She patted Danny on the arm. “Not a peep out of this brave warrior.”

Danny smiled. “Ultimate Warrior.”

Grace looked at Joe, confused.

“
One thing to know about my son is that he’s obsessed with wrestlers from the eighties and nineties.”

“
Where did he get that from?”

Joe’s cheeks flushed red. “Me.”

Grace giggled. “Nothing wrong with that. Better than being football-obsessed like most the guys I’ve met. I’m surprised you never ended up being a wrestler yourself, size you are.”

Joe looked at himself and nodded. “I think that’s why I liked it as a kid. I was bigger than everyone else and I felt like a bit of a freak, but every week I would watch these giants on TV being worshipped by millions and I wouldn’t feel so bad anymore.”

“
Maybe that’s why I used to like Culture Club,” said Bill, and they all laughed.

Until the noise cut them off.

A ruckus somewhere in the building. The crashing sounds of a violent struggle. It wasn’t until they heard the shrill shrieking of monkeys that it became obvious what was happening.

“
Victor,” said Joe. “The monkeys must have broken in before he had chance to secure the doors.”

Bill leapt up. “We need to get that door closed.”

Joe sprang up too. “Grace, look after Danny. Danny, I’ll be right back. Be good.”

Joe and Bill swung open the door and ran into the corridor. The chaotic noise became louder as it echoed off the walls on their approach to the stairs. They could hear Victor screaming out insults.

“
Take that, yer wee bastards! I’ll break yer frickin’ necks.”

Joe took the steps downwards, twice as fast as he’d gone up them – four at a time – the impact of every stair rattling the bones in his ankles. Despite his haste, it still felt like an eternity to reach the bottom. When he did, Bill hurtling into the back of him, Joe wished he hadn’t.

The monkeys were inside.

Victor noticed Joe and Bill’s presence and spun around to face them, his back against the door. Thick scratches and ragged bite-marks covered his body. “Give me a bloody hand!” he shouted.

Joe and Bill rushed forward down the corridor, gripping the edge of one of the tables that Victor had abandoned half way down. It was heavy, and Joe wondered how on Earth the Scotsman had manoeuvred two at once. They slid the table towards the far door, which was now being forced open by two-dozen sets of razor-tipped paws. Victor was pushing back as hard as he could, trying to force it shut, but there were four monkeys already inside the entranceway and they were all lunging for him. They bit and clawed at his tattooed arms and legs, shrieking in ecstasy as they drew fresh blood from his wounds. Victor fought to ignore the pain as he concentrated on keeping the door closed.