Animal Kingdom (23 page)

“
Kill that motherfucker, Joe,” said Bill, entering the warehouse and seeing Mason’s body on the floor. “Gut him like he gutted Mason.”

“
Yeah,” added Grace from the nearby office. “I watched him kill Mason without a second thought. He’s evil. Sick.”

Joe glared at Randall. “I think we’re all in agreement. Or would you prefer a
vote?
”

Randall reached the edge of the steel staircase leading down onto the warehouse floor, realised there was nowhere else to go. He teetered on the edge of the top step, seemed to hold his breath as Joe approached. “I-I found Mason like that,” he said. “I don’t know what happened. I swear, Joe.”

“
Really,” said Bill from behind them both. “Then why is Grace tied up in the office?”

Joe Saw Grace bound to a chair by a series of cable ties. She was in bad shape, wounded in several places. Joe didn’t know if the injuries had been inflicted by Randall or if she’d made them herself.

Anger took an unbreakable hold. Joe lashed out and punched Randall as hard as he could, caught the man beneath his double chin, and launched him backwards. Right down the stairs. After crumpling and rolling against every step on the way down, Randall came to halt at the bottom, a broken, tangled mess. Bill managed to snip Grace loose with some scissors and brought her alongside Joe. The three of them looked down at Randall’s unmoving body.

“
He dead?” asked Bill.

Joe shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care.” He turned around and knelt beside his son. “Danny, wake up.”

Thankfully, Danny opened his eyes without much delay, and after a few moments of heavy breathing it seemed like he would be okay. “Dad, what happened?”

“
You had a bump on the noggin. Do you feel okay?”

Danny nodded and got to his feet. “I feel like someone did a DDT on me, but I think I’m okay.”

Joe hugged him and then looked up at his other companions. “Bill, Grace, you ready to get out of here?”

“
God
yes,” said Grace.

Bill seemed less enthusiastic, but nodded all the same.

“
Okay then, let’s take things slow. Get yourself armed and keep your eyes open at all times. Any sign of danger and we bolt back inside, or to the nearest safe place.”

“
I don’t think there
are
any safe places anymore,” said Bill.

“
You might be right, but things have gone too far now. We have to go.”

With everyone in agreement, the group took the stairs to the warehouse floor, stepping over Randall’s sprawled body at the bottom. Danny whimpered, but didn’t ask any questions. Joe knew his son was smart enough to figure out what happened.

On the warehouse floor, they set about finding some weapons. It was a difficult task, seeing as Randall and Victor had hidden away anything useful in their own private stockpiles. The best they could find was a couple of mop handles and a length of chain wrapped around a recycling cart. Hopefully there would be no need to use them. Joe walked up to the far side of the warehouse floor, toward a large, square shutter. It was electric, but at the side was a crank that could be used to wind it up manually. Bill stood ready with his chain while Grace and Danny wielded the mop handles behind him.

“
So, we really gonna do this?” Bill asked again.

Joe nodded. “Just as soon as you’re ready.”

Bill sighed. “Let’s just get this shit over with.”

Joe grabbed the crank handle and began to turn. The shutter rose gradually, making a grating squeal as it ascended. Joe cringed at the sound and wished it would move faster. Each rotation of the crank led to the entrance opening by only a few centremetres.

Bill began sidestepping left to right. “Doesn’t that thing go any faster?”

Joe huffed. “You’re watching me turn it. You think there’s a better way?”

“
Yeah,” said Bill, stepping forward. He draped his chain around his neck and kneeled at the shutter. He placed the palms off both hands underneath its edge, and, gripping tightly, he straightened out his legs, deadlifting the shutter like a barbell. It began to rise faster until, only moments later, it was open to waist-height. Bill motioned with his head to the opening. “Who’s first?”

Joe swallowed.
Time to jump into the fire
. He ducked beneath the shutter and re-emerged on the other side. The cold bite of the autumn-air nipped at his cheeks, but was also exhilarating. It felt like he could breathe properly for the first time since this whole thing happened. Bill, Grace, and Danny crawled out behind him and each of them looked around nervously.

“
What’s the plan?” Bill asked, scanning left to right. “I don’t wanna just stand around.”

“
I’ve got the answer,” said Joe, dangling a set of keys from his finger. “No reason my car won’t still be waiting in the car park.”

“
Great,” said Bill. “How far?”

“
Back of the zoo. Quarter mile, maybe?”

Grace put a hand on Joe’s shoulder. “Easy…peasy…”

Joe grabbed her just in time to stop her falling. He propped her up by her armpit. “You okay? You don’t look good.”

Grace shook her head and heaved in a series of shallow breathes. “I…I’m fine. I just feel a little faint.”

“
Blood loss,” said Bill, pointing to the many wounds on her body.

Joe agreed. Grace was a mess, covered almost entirely in dried, caked-on blood. The cuts didn’t seem fresh though and he was confident that the bleeding had stopped. “I think you’ll be okay,” he said. “Are you going to be able to carry on?”

Grace laughed, but her voice was weak and hollow. “What choice do I have?”

“
Here, I’ll take Danny,” Joe said, picking up his son. “You just hold onto this mop handle nice and tight and if you feel like you’re gonna pass out, let us know.”

“
Can we
please
get going now?” Bill’s anxiety buttons were being prodded. Joe could tell by the way he was shifting his weight from side to side and swallowing constantly.

“
Okay,” said Joe. “Let’s get going.”

The group of them set off. They were in a paved delivery area around the back of the Visitor’s Centre. There were no vehicles around and nothing else of note either, except for a large double-wide wheelie bin. There were no animals in the area and Joe didn’t hesitate in leading everyone forward. They stuck close to the wall, crouching to keep their profiles low. Up ahead, the building ended and the pavement snaked around to the left.

Joe put a hand up to halt everyone, whilst struggling to keep a hold of Danny in his arms. “Everyone wait here. I’ll go check and see if the coast is clear.”

Joe put down Danny and crept along the last few feet of wall. He peered carefully around to the left, poking his head out gradually. Joe couldn’t see his own face, but if he
could,
he was sure he would have lost all colour at what he was seeing.

“
What is it?” said Grace. “What can you see?”

Joe bit at his bottom lip as he looked back at her. “The animals,” he said. “They’re everywhere.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Bill resumed his anxious stepping from side to side. “What the hell do we do?”

“
I think we can sneak past,” said Joe. The army of animals was engaged in the assault against the building. Joe was even sure he could hear Victor’s wild battle cries as debris fell from the windows upstairs. Amongst the rampaging animals was a collection of bloody and burned husks of various shapes and species.

Looks like Victor’s still got plenty of fight left.

“
We can’t just sneak past,” Bill said. “Animals have like super hearing, don’t they?”

Joe shrugged. “Some do, I guess. What choice do we have though?”

No one said anything. They could go backwards and re-enter the building, but would have to face Victor and the assault that was going on, or they could go forwards and face an army of vicious, snarling creatures. They were screwed either way.

Danny pulled on Joe’s arm. The boy looked like he had something to say. Joe asked him, “What is it, Danny?”

“
We can start a fire.”

Joe smiled encouragingly. “What do you mean?”

“
We could start a fire between them and us. They don’t like fire.”

Joe thought about it but Bill liked the idea straight away. “We could grab some more petrol from the warehouse and pour it on the floor as we make a run for it. Then when the animals chase we could light it and…whoosh!”

Joe shrugged. “Good as anything else.”

Bill smiled, seeming more confident about the whole thing since they decided to make a run for it. “I’ll go get the petrol. I think some of it got left with the backup supplies.”

Joe nodded as Bill limped off, then peered back around the side of the wall. He tried making mental notes of which areas were best to get across the zoo. The animals roamed everywhere, flanked on all sides by dogs, cats, and other domestic animals. The main force consisted of tigers, wolves, monkeys, and of course, the leader of them all, the silverback. The giant ape stood almost exactly at the army’s centre and was beating his chest in defiance as Victor continued to fight back. Each time the silverback let out a feral roar, another group of animals would surge forward and attack the building. The earlier attack involving giraffes had obviously failed as a pair of them now lay dead on the ground, but that had not deterred the rest of the army. Their current tactic was to send small groups of monkeys against the walls, standing on atop each other in an attempt to create a ladder from their bodies. Joe didn’t want to stick around long enough to see if it worked.

Another five minutes passed without Bill returning and Joe began to worry. It shouldn’t be taking this long. “You think we should go check on him?” he asked Grace.

She shrugged. “I guess we could. Perhaps we should have gone with him in the first place.”

In agreement, Joe and Grace, along with Danny, headed back along the wall towards the loading bay. Joe wanted to call out to Bill but didn’t want to risk being heard by something or somebody. When they reached the entrance, Joe called out at a hushed level. “Bill, you okay?”

No answer. Joe’s worry intensified. He stepped through the entrance way and Grace and Danny followed.

“
Where is he?” asked Grace.

“
He’s here,” said a voice.

Joe looked up to see Bill standing anxiously before him. At his throat was a knife, and behind him was Randall. The man wasn’t alone and had Shirley beside him.

Joe shook his head and laughed. “Guess everyone gave up on Victor’s war then?”

“
Only a fool would have stayed and fought,” said Shirley. “The battle is already lost. Victor is just too stupid to realise it.”

“
That’s right,” said Randall. “Shirley and I are leaving.”

“
Good,” said Joe. “Just let go of Bill and we can go our separate ways.”

Randall cackled, shook his head forcefully. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. You see I was brutally attacked, and until the person responsible is held to account, I simply cannot depart. Unfinished business you might say.”

Joe’s eyes narrowed. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you after what you did to my son. If I were you I’d cut my losses while I still have chance.”

“
Perhaps you’re right.” Randall slit Bill’s throat so casually he might have been acting it out in a play. Bill’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates as he fell forward onto his knees, clutching the bleeding gash that lined his neck like a widening scarf. He tried to speak, but all that came out was the sound of gurgling and a distant hissing sound.

There was a high-pitched keening that Joe realised was himself screaming. He shot forward and grabbed Bill who collapsed into his arms. “Bill, it’s going to be okay.”

But he was already dead.

Joe stared at his fallen friend and was filled with equal doses of intoxicating vengeance and regret. Regret that he hadn’t killed Randall when he’d had the chance. He would rectify that mistake right now.

Joe looked up just as Randall lunged at him with the knife. He managed to make a last second dive to the right and missed being stabbed by a hair’s breadth. The hard floor knocked the wind from his lungs.

Randall looked down at him on the floor, knife still in hand. “Time for your sentencing, my friend.”

“
He’s not your friend.” Danny ran forward and swung his leg like it was a golf club attached to his hip. His little foot hit square between Randall’s legs. “How about a low blow, ye jabroni!”

Randall collapsed backwards, shrinking into the foetal position and clutching at his groin in agony. Like a shot, Shirley ran forward and seized Danny, slapping him hard across the face. “You brat! You’ll burn in hell.”

Joe watched in a daze, still winded by his impact with the floor, as Grace swung her broom handle like a baseball bat. It smashed across Shirley’s face with a resounding
crack!
The woman shrieked out like one of the animals outside as blood began pouring from her face. The blow had shattered her glasses and sent the jagged shards into her eyes.