Animal Kingdom (5 page)

“
Why you gotta be such a dick, man?” It was the Black man, standing by the pool table, cue in hand. “Can’t you see the trouble we’re in? People are dead and all you can think about is your damn self.”

Who the hell does he think he is to question me?

“
I live in a world where people are held accountable for their actions,” said Randall. “Sorry if the notions of right and wrong are beyond someone like you.”

The Black man scrunched up his face and stepped away from the pool table. “The hell that supposed to mean?”

Randall sighed. “Work it out, Cosby.”

Before Randall got a reply, the large blond man entered the conversation. “Let’s not pick at each other, okay? Mason has gone upstairs to try to make a phone call and shed some light on the situation. The rest of us should just keep ourselves occupied. Look,” the man pointed one of his giant arms across the room, “there’s a television in the corner.”

He was right, Randall noted. Perched on a pair of wall brackets at the far corner of the room was a brand new LCD TV.

Another extravagance I paid for. Jesus wept!

“
Okay,” Randall conceded. “Television sounds like a good idea, but let’s just put the news on. None of that daytime talk show drivel.”

“
Fine,” the big man replied, bounding off towards the television set on legs that seemed unnaturally tall. It was far away from where Randall was sitting, but big enough that he would still be able to see. When the blond man managed to find the remote and switch it on, it showed only a blue screen at first, but after a couple of moments, pressing buttons and flipping through several channels of empty static, a grainy picture finally appeared.

“
The reception is really bad,” said the blond man, “but I think it’s the news. It’s certainly not Jeremy Kyle.”

“
Yeah, it’s a news report alright,” Cosby added needlessly. “I recognise the journalist, Jane Hamilton.”

Everyone sat quietly as the news updates flashed various images from around the UK. It seemed that it wasn’t just the zoo that was having troubles.

“
Holy shit!” Cosby cried out. “I can’t believe it.”

If Randall was honest, he couldn’t quite believe it either. “Interesting,” he said out loud, wondering what it all could mean. “Very interesting.”

Chapter Five

Joe couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The flickering news report showed animal attacks from all over the country – images of Hyde Park overrun by snarling dogs of numerous breeds, and, even more bizarrely, a pack of crazed squirrels attacking a baby in its pram outside Manchester’s Trafford Centre. Next came scenes from the countryside – of farm animals ripping a man to shreds as he failed to reach the safety of his dust-covered Range Rover. Sheep, cows, and even pigs were roaming the fields and roadsides like Nazi-death-squads, with what looked like morsels of human flesh hanging from their jaws. Every scene was different, but they all had one thing in common – animals were attacking people. It didn’t matter how big or how small, anything with fur, claws, or fangs was seemingly possessed by a malevolent rage directed solely at the human race. Dogs, cats, and mice, to sheep, cows, and pigs – all were united in their quest to kill. Whatever was going on right now, it wasn’t just isolated to the zoo.

“
This can’t be happening,” said Joe, as the television switched to similar scenes from various locations in Europe. Helsinki was currently under siege from a band of rampaging bears, while Paris was fighting off a plague of rats emerging from its vast sewers. “God help us.”

“
I don’t think God is watching,” said Grace, who had picked Danny up into her arms to keep him from looking at the images.

Joe shook his head, unable to take his eyes away from the screen. “I don’t understand any of this.”

“
Me either.” The Black man came up beside them. “It’s a mad house.”

Joe somehow managed a smile. “What’s your name? I’m assuming it’s not
Cosby
?”

“
Name’s William, but my friends call me Bill. Your name’s Joe, right?”

Joe nodded. “Pleased to meet you, Bill. You make sense of any of this?”

Bill shook his head. “Just about the craziest goddamn thing I’ve ever seen. Don’t know what could be to blame. Maybe it’s the end of the world.”

“
Terrorists, if you ask me.” Coming to join them was the grey-haired woman that had spoken in support of Randall earlier, wanting to join his legal battle. She was smiling now and seemed quite pleasant. “Godless monsters are always coming up with new ways to destroy the world. Looks like they finally came up with a good one – airborne rabies. Name’s Shirley.”

“
Hi, Shirley,” Joe greeted her. “You really think terrorists?”

“
Have a better suggestion?”

Joe shook his head. He didn’t. If it
was
a terrorist act, he wondered what that could mean, and what it would mean for his son. “What do we do?”

“
How should I know?” Shirley shrugged. “Whatever happens, things will work out however God wants them too. Maybe the world will finally face up to its sin now that deliverance is upon us.”

Bill huffed beside Joe. “Speak for yourself, lady. People are responsible for their own actions. I don’t believe there’s some man in the sky playing us all like puppets, weighing up our mistakes against us. That’s crazy!”

Shirley smirked, but the expression contained a dose of venom. “Believe what you will, but when your day of reckoning arrives you will see the error of your ways. Now is not the time to be a heathen.” The woman strolled away; apparently satisfied that she had said her piece.

Bill turned to Joe. “She for real?”

“
Don’t know,” said Grace, “but that was a bit of an intense introduction.”

Joe laughed. “Strange times call for strange people. But it doesn’t matter
who
or
what
is responsible at the end of the day. What matters to me is keeping my son safe. You think things will work themselves out if we just stay put?”

Bill shrugged. “The police must be doing something. Hell, the army too! It’s just a bunch of animals. They should be able to handle a few rabid Labradors and Tabby cats.”

“
What about lions?” Grace asked.

“
Lions are a little more difficult, but that’s only because we had the misfortune to be at the mother-fuckin’ zoo. I mean,
damn
, you couldn’t make this shit up.”

“
So what’s the plan?” Grace looked at Joe, shifting Danny’s weight onto her opposite shoulder. “Do we just stay here?”

Joe had no answers. He scratched at his forehead on the off-chance that he would knock loose an idea, but found nothing hiding. “I guess we just settle in and wait for help to come. It’ll probably take time for the authorities to get a handle on things.”

Just then a nearby door swung open, startling everybody. When it turned out to be Mason, they all relaxed. The zoo’s curator ambled over with a look of grave concern on his face.

Joe nodded at him. “Everything okay?”

Mason shook his head and looked down at the floor. When he looked back up his expression seemed even grimmer. “I tried contacting the admin building, but got nothing. The phones just rang out. So then I called the police.”

Joe cleared his throat, not sure he wanted to hear what Mason had to say. “And?”

“
No answer.”

Grace laughed; a nervous sound. “What? No answer? They have to answer, don’t they?”

Mason bit at his lip. “One would certainly think so, but I’m getting the impression that they may be inundated with calls at the moment.”

Joe knew where this was going and didn’t want to beat around the bush. “We saw the news. It’s going on everywhere.”

“
Yes,” said Mason. “I suspected as much. Every number I tried was unanswered. But what really disturbs me is what I saw when I looked out of the upper-floor windows.”

Joe took a deep breath which seemed to lead Bill and Grace to do the same
. Maybe anxiety is infectious?
He raised an eyebrow at Mason. “What did you see?”

Mason didn’t answer at first and seemed to drift off into thought, eyes flickering behind his spectacles as though they were playing back a movie in his mind. When he finally answered, his voice was weak and lacked his usual composure. “The entire zoo has been overrun. The animals are all out of their cages, and there are…” Mason took a moment to gather himself. “There are…bodies, everywhere. I watched for ten minutes whilst a pack of our African Wild Dogs ate the very flesh from a group of dead children. Blood every–”

Joe cut him off and pointed to his son. Danny didn’t need to hear any of this.

Mason understood and changed direction. “Yes, well, perhaps it is best to think forward now that events have already transpired. I believe we are safe for now, but I have no idea how long we should prepare to be here. If I tell the group what has happened, and that we all must remain inside, I think they may kick up a fuss.”

Bill laughed. “That’s an understatement. Biggest problem is gonna be that jackass banker or businessman – whatever he is.”

“
Randall.” Joe sniffed. “His name is Randall.”

Mason looked weary and seemed to have aged over the last hour. “We’ll just have to do our best to calm him. I’m sure he’s a reasonable man underneath.”

They all looked at each other for a minute. Joe didn’t think anybody believed that Randall was anything other than a grade-A prick.

“
Should we get to it then?” Mason asked them all finally.

Everyone nodded. No time like the present to serve shit sandwiches to a bunch of scared people. Joe just had to keep reminding himself that they were lucky to even be alive right now. They had to be thankful.

Led by Mason, they moved over to the centre of the room. Most people were still glued to the on-going news reports, but, when they noticed the zoo’s curator, they all turned their attention to him.

Mason clapped his hands together. It was a needless action since all eyes were already on him, but seemed like an appropriate way to punctuate the start of a speech. “I’m sure everyone is eager to gain more knowledge about the current events and I do indeed have some for you. I ask that you remain calm as I say this, but I regret to inform you that the animal attacks we have witnessed here today are not localised to this zoo. In fact, from my estimation, they are happening throughout the nation. Perhaps the world.”

“
Thank you for telling us what we already know.” Randall spoke from the back of the room. The way he lazed casually in the chair made it obvious that his ego wasn’t yet ready to take a rest.

Joe eyeballed the piggish little man.
Can you please be constructive for one minute? Anyone would think that being a pain in the ass was your hobby.

“
We already know it’s happening everywhere,” Randall continued. “It’s on the news.”

“
Okay,” Mason replied, stuttering slightly. “Then I hope you all understand the gravity of the situation. What you may not be aware of, however, is the danger that presents itself outside this very building.”

Randall shrugged. “The lions?”

“
I wish that were the depth of it, but I am afraid it is far worse. From what I have witnessed, every animal in the park has broken free. They have attacked and killed anyone unfortunate enough to be outside.”

Randall leapt from his chair, quicker than one would have imagined for a man of his girth. For a moment Joe wondered if someone had lit a fire under his ass. “How the
hell
have you let this happen?” Spit flew from his mouth as he spoke. His cheeks turned red like cherry tomatoes. “How does a modern-day zoo let its entire inventory get loose? It begs belief that anyone could be so incompetent.”

Mason only managed to respond with a series of splutters.

Randall continued his tirade. “Do you know how much trouble you are in? I ought to throw you out there with the lions. You ridiculous, negligent–”

“
Enough,” Joe cut in. “There will be a time for blame, but this is not it. Right now we are in a predicament beyond anything we can yet understand. I think it’s safe to assume that whatever is happening at this zoo is a
symptom
of whatever has affected the animals nationwide, not the
cause
.”

Randall glared at Joe. “I don’t know who you are, my friend, but I am getting rather tired of you coming to this fool’s aid. If you continue to speak in his defence then I can only assume that you are complicit in this fiasco.”

Joe threw back his head and twisted the kinks from his neck. Every conversation with Randall left him exhausted. “Look,” he said finally, “my name is Joe, and I just came here today because my son loves animals and has never been to a zoo.” He pointed at Danny who was still asleep in Grace’s arms. “Truth be told, I don’t get to see my son very often and this day was important to me. Real important. So don’t assume, Mr. Randall, that I’m not as put out as you are. But there are people outside that never even made it long enough to be stuck in this situation. They’re dead.” A silence filled the room and Joe hoped that things were finally sinking in. “We’re in a bad situation, people, and if we don’t get along then it will get even worse. It would be better if we introduce ourselves and try to get through this together. Is that too much to ask?”