Animal Kingdom Read online

  Joe threw the last cushion onto his pile and put Danny down on it. His son’s eyelids were already half-closed by the time his head hit the soft fabric. Today was too much for a child to have to deal with, and the large portion of chocolate cake Danny had wolfed down earlier had only added to his sleepiness.

  “Sweet dreams, son,” said Joe, covering his son with a spare lab coat. “Tomorrow will be better.”

  Danny muttered, “Night, Dad,” then was fast asleep. Joe sat and watched him for a while. He was such a small boy, but so brave – full of energy and optimism. Joe hadn’t spent enough time with Danny since the divorce and it upset him to realise how little he knew about his son’s inner-strength.

  Grace came and sat down beside the two of them. “What do you think happened to the electricity?”

  Joe shrugged. “I don’t know, but it can’t be good. Things must be really bad for the grid to be down.”

  “I guess so. Mason told me the zoo has a backup generator, but it only runs to the indoor exhibits – the lizards and stuff. We’re gonna be freezing tonight.”

  “Doesn’t look like we’ll get any breaks, does it?”

  “I don’t know about that. We were lucky with the cafeteria delivery. Least we won’t starve. You should have a sandwich, everyone else has.”

  Joe nodded. “Maybe later. I guess we can hole up here for a while. It’s not too cold at the moment either. Least we’re not having a load of snow like we did last winter. We’ll get through this.”

  Grace looked him in the eye and seemed serious all of a sudden. “We’re lucky to have you, Joe. You saved my life today. Bill’s too. We owe you our lives.”

  “You don’t owe me anything. I just did what anyone would have.”

  Grace frowned. “You think? I can’t see Shirley risking herself like you did.”

  Joe laughed. “Okay, I did what most people would have done.”

  Grace moved closer and lay against him. Her skin felt warm. “You did what only brave people would have done. I’m really glad you’re here. Danny too.”

  Joe felt awkward for a moment. He hadn’t had a woman this close to him in years and it made him nervous, but at the same time very relaxed. “I’m glad you’re here too, Grace,” he finally admitted, wrapping an arm around her. “I don’t think I could have looked after Danny today without you.”

  Grace looked up at him. “He’s a great kid.”

  “You should thank his mother for that. I haven’t been around so much lately.”

  Joe expected Grace to investigate further, but she didn’t. “You’re making up for it now.”

  “Thanks,” said Joe, disagreeing with the comment but grateful that she said it all the same. Whether or not Grace knew that, he didn’t know. She’d fallen asleep.

  It wasn’t particularly late, but Joe guessed it had been a long day for everyone. The others in the group had also begun to settle down into their own little areas. Bill and Mason were close by, while Randall, Shirley, and Victor sat further back in the room. Victor had built his bed beneath one of the study-desks. For what reason, Joe did not know.

  It was now fully dark outside and Joe could see the night between the gaps in the barricade that Victor had assembled in front of the window. He wondered what the evening would bring. Would the animals sleep? Or would they become more active? Did they even need to sleep anymore? Whatever had affected them seemed to have taken complete control.

  As if to answer his questions, creatures outside began to howl, using whatever particular vocal abilities they had. At the far end of the room Randall got up from his pillow-bed and went to the window.

  “What’s happening?” Bill asked him.

  “I don’t know,” Randall replied. “I can’t really see anything. They’re out there though, gathered together like they were earlier.”

  “They know we’re in here,” said Victor. “They want our blood.”

  “That may well be,” said Randall, “but we’re safe in here. They’re just trying to agitate us. There’s no reason to worry.”

  But as the volume of the catcalls outside increased, Joe couldn’t help but do just that. It was several hours before he got to sleep.

  Chapter Sixteen

  It was pitch black when Joe awoke. He had no idea what time it was and for a few moments forgot where he was. The darkness extinguished his vision and made remembering hard, but when his ears tuned in to the animal noises outside, it all came rushing back. That wasn’t what had woken him though. There was someone walking about. Joe strained his eyes, trying to see through the darkness. He could make out nothing solid, but someone was definitely there, creeping around in the shadows.

  Should I shout out?

  No, I’ll keep quiet. I have no reason to think they’re up to anything.

  Joe felt around himself, checking for Danny and Grace. They were both there, sleeping soundly, their chests rising and falling steadily. He was pretty sure he could make out Bill’s silhouette lying nearby too, so the sneaking person had to be Mason, Randall, Victor, or Shirley. With the exception of Mason, Joe didn’t trust any of them. Again, he considered calling out, but still chose to remain quiet.

  Probably just going to the bathroom.

  After the mystery person left the room, Joe waited ten more minutes before he could take it no longer. Sleep would be impossible unless he knew where everyone was. He got up slowly so that he wouldn’t wake the others and then crept to the door in the same way the mystery person had; an almost impossible task in the dark. He kept his arms out as feelers to keep from bumping into the walls.

  Outside in the corridor it was no easier to see, the dark just as suffocating. The air was cooler though and tasted fresher than the recycled atmosphere of the seminar room. Joe took a breath and enjoyed the feeling, then looked left and right whilst cocking his ear to one side. It wasn’t clear where the other person had gone, but as Joe listened he thought he could detect sounds coming from further down the corridor. Moist, slapping sounds.

  Joe realised the animals inside the lab were no longer making noise. The first time since Mason had riled them up the previous day. Joe felt a tightening in his chest. The smart thing to do would be to wake the others, but something urged him to go on alone. If he was going to alert everyone, he at least wanted sufficient reason.

  One tentative step after the other, Joe approached the lab, listening and trying to identify the slapping sounds. They seemed louder now and he could also make out the sound of gently rattling cages. It was possible that the animals had finally returned to normal and Joe clutched at that possibility as he stood and faced the door to the lab. He reached for the handle.

  Someone grabbed him from behind.

  Joe spun around. His heart threatened to leap out of his throat. Whoever had grabbed him was invisible in the darkness, only the dim shape of them visible.

  “Whoa there, Joe! It’s Bill. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Joe couldn’t speak. His lungs sucked in giant gulps of air. It was several moments before he managed to catch his breath enough to say something. “You sneak up and grab me in the dark and didn’t mean to scare me?”

  “Okay, guess you have a point there. You’re the one wondering around in the night though. What you up to?”

  Joe’s eyes adjusted to the dark and he could now make out Bill’s shape sufficiently to pinpoint the man in the dark. “Actually, I’m not the one wondering around. There’s someone in the lab. I was about to find out who.”

  “Okay,” said Bill, a hint of concern in his voice. “Lead the way.”

  Joe nodded but was unsure if the other man could see it in the dark. He turned back around and wrapped his fingers around the door handle.

  Here goes.

  He opened the door.

  Inside, the lab was an unending blanket of darkness, except for a floating torchlight at the far end. Joe could not make out who was holding it.

  “Who is it?” Bill whispered.

  “I don’t know.
I can’t see anything in here.”

  “Light the burners,” Bill suggested.

  “What do you mean?”

  Bill placed a hand on Joe’s shoulder to find him in the dark. “The Bunson Burners run on gas. We could still light them even with no electricity.”

  Joe thought about it. “Good idea. You got a lighter?”

  Bill didn’t say anything but in the dark Joe felt the other man hand him a small metallic object. A Zippo lighter. Joe sparked it up and the flame lit a narrow cone of light around him, enough to navigate his way carefully over to one of the lab benches.

  A few sweeps with the lighter, Joe managed to locate a row of gas taps. He released the valve on the first, waited for the hiss, lit it, and adjusted the flame to its highest. It took only a few seconds to light several more, but it still did not allow Joe to see who was flittering about at the other end of the lab. The light of the burners stretched only a few feet from the centre of the room.

  Nothing left to do but shout out, so that’s what Joe did. “Who’s there?”

  The torch beam spun erratically as the person realised they were not alone, the tunnel of light eventually finding its way into Joe’s face, blinding him. Bill came up beside him and stood shoulder to shoulder.

  “We said who’s there?” Bill’s voice was strong and forceful. “Show yourself.”

  The torchlight bobbed about as the person approached them. Joe thought for a moment that it felt like being in a train’s headlights. His eyes were forced shut as the torch continued to shine in his face. His retinas ached.

  “How ya doing there, fellas? Up to some late night dogging?”

  Joe frowned at the Scottish accent. Victor.

  “You really don’t know anything about gay people, do you?” Bill said.

  Victor laughed. “Less I know the better, pal.”

  “We’re not up to anything,” Joe stated. “We’re here to see what you’re up to.”

  “No problem,” said Victor. “Best you see for yourself though.”

  The torchlight left Joe’s face and circled the room, illuminating the rows and rows of cages on each wall. The animals inside were no longer making a fuss, and in fact a lot of the cages were now open.

  Joe’s eyes went wide. “Shit, you let them all out!”

  Victor laughed, the sound echoing through the unlit room. He stepped forward into the light of the Bunson Burners and Joe saw that he was drenched head to toe in blood. His tattoos were covered in gore and a dead bird hung limp in his left hand. Martha glinted in his right.

  Victor’s laughing continued as he held the gutted animal up like a trophy. “Aye, I let them out. But only long enough to slit their throats.”

  Joe stared at the blood-soaked knife in Victor’s hand and had to swallow back a mouthful of vomit. “You’re insane.”

  “No, pal. Just practical. Now do me a favour and leave a man to his work. We can all use this meat if things get bad enough.”

  “Things are already that bad,” said Bill, grabbing Joe’s arm and pulling him backwards. “Come on, Joe.”

  Together, they backed away from Victor, not taking their eyes off of him – or his beloved Martha – until they reached the door. Joe’s back hit the wood and he jumped, spun around. He snatched at the door handle, missing several times, but finally getting a grip and flinging it open. He and Bill barrelled through into the corridor outside like Hell itself was behind them.

  “That guy is batshit crazy,” said Bill, huffing and puffing as the two of them hurried down the unlit hallway. “He even killed the birds, and they weren’t even dangerous. I think he enjoys it,”

  “I know,” Joe agreed. “We need to warn the others.”

  They reached the seminar room and Joe shoved open the door. Everyone inside woke with a start, shouting out garbled utterances as they were yanked away from their dreams. Joe closed the door and leant his back against it. “Everyone wake up.”

  “We’re already awake! What’s going on? Are we under attack?” Joe recognised the startled voice as Grace’s.

  “Yes, would you care to explain?” said another voice that could only have been Randall’s.

  The room lit up. Joe saw that Bill had managed to rustle up some torches from the stockpile and was placing them around the room to light up as big an area as possible. Joe could now make out the concerned faces of the others in the room. Fortunately, Danny was still asleep.

  My son could sleep through the end of the world. Lucky for him, because that may just be what’s happening.

  “Victor’s gone mad!” Joe blurted it out, unsure of any other way to approach the subject.

  Randall stood up and moved to the centre of the room. “What on Earth are you talking about?”

  “He’s in the lab, right now” said Bill. “Hacking away at all the animals in the cages. They’re all dead.”

  “That’s good isn’t it?” Shirley asked. “They were a danger.”

  Mason was shaking his head, a hand against his brow. “No, no, no. We agreed that they were to be left alone.”

  “That’s beside the point,” said Joe. “What matters is that Victor is going around killing things like a twisted maniac.”

  “Of course he is,” said Randall. “That’s exactly what I advised him to do.”

  Both of Joe’s eyelids opened wide. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “I said, I told him to do it. The animals in those cages were dangerous. How could we rest with an enemy within our breach? Plus, the meat they provide may prove invaluable.”

  Mason sighed. “They were invaluable animals until Victor killed them all.”

  “I stand by what I say. We are in too much trouble to risk those things getting out. I voiced my concerns to Shirley and Victor, and Victor was happy to oblige. The man is doing us all a service.”

  “I agree,” said Shirley. “Those beasts would happily have done the same to us.”

  Joe shook his head. What could he say? There was a certain amount of logic to their argument and, if he was honest, it did feel safer knowing that the caged animals were no longer a concern. It didn’t make him feel any better about Victor though. The image of the Scotsman dripping with blood and shrouded in shadow was permanently etched into his brain. Regardless of what anybody said, Victor was dangerous.

  He just didn’t know how dangerous yet.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The morning arrived in silence. No birds sang their morning tunes and no cars hummed along the distant motorways.

  The world was still.

  Randall had been awake for five minutes now, but had done nothing except observe the others sleeping. The incident during the night had riled everyone up, but they had eventually gotten back to sleep. Victor had not returned, most likely still gutting the animals in the lab, collecting the meat. Randall found out that Victor was a Scot’s guard as a younger man and more than capable of doing the tasks that others weren’t. Whether they agreed or not, Victor should be commended, not derided.

  It had been enjoyable to watch Joe and Mason step down, and accept that what was needed right now was pragmatism, not fluffy thinking. They would have to understand that the normal rules no longer applied. Randall was going to teach them all that lesson one way or the other.

  The room began to glow as cold, grey shafts of dawn-light crept through the gaps in the window’s barricade. The others in the room began to stir, but for now remained asleep. Randall noticed that there was one more person, other than Victor, who was not present. Grace was missing too.

  Where have you gotten to, my pretty? This is no time for a woman to be walking around unescorted.

  Randall pushed himself up off the floor. His joints cracked, his fifty-year-old body unhappy at spending the night on a thin pile of cushions. It wasn’t something he was sure he could ever get used to, but for now there were no other choices. He stretched out his arms, listened to his elbows click one last time, then ambled over to the seminar room’s exit. Thankfully no one woke a
nd he was free to go about his business undisturbed. He intended to find Grace, to see what the woman was doing, but first he had other things to attend to. Randall was satisfied that the corridor outside was empty of both people and, more importantly, animals, so he stepped outside. The last thing he was prepared for was another attack, not until things were further under his control.

  He approached the Head of Primates’ office, across the hall, and opened the door quietly. Once inside, he closed it just as carefully behind him. The key to the room’s filing cabinet was in his pocket and he plucked it out, using it on the lock a moment later. He took a packet of biscuits from the middle-shelf and popped one into his mouth. Breakfast.

  Once he’d finished several more, Randall placed the packet back inside and grabbed the next item on the shelf – his Blackberry. He pressed the ‘ON’ button and waited for the phone to boot up. It took several minutes, but when it finally did activate, something unexpected occurred.

  < ONE NEW MESSAGE >

  Randall thumbed at the keypad clumsily, failing several times to get the message up, but eventually succeeding. He could not believe what it said:

  RE: Emergency Communication

  This is a Government message to all cellular devices. Emergency Rescue Operations are on-going at the following locations: Aberdeen, Barnsley, Durham, Exeter, Leicester, Ipswich, Nottingham, Oxford, Preston, Redditch, Salford, Telford, Taunton, Warwick, Winchester, Yeovil. If you are able, head to the town/city centre of these areas. Help will be forthcoming. Do not approach any animal.

  Randall stared at his phone for several minutes, re-reading the message over and over. Despite his misgivings, the Government were indeed addressing the situation and were possibly even gaining a foothold. Or are they? Randall considered that the message could have been sent automatically by a dusty computer in the Home Office, and that the areas mentioned were overrun with animal attacks just the same way as the zoo. The message did not guarantee that help was available, and they were probably still safer staying put. Some of the locations were nearby – Leicester especially – and it was perhaps an option to try and reach them. He would have to think about things before making a decision.