Zoo Read online

  I turned back to the older woman. She was patiently waiting for me to answer her. “I don’t know. I was actually trying to find a way out.”

  “No. No. No. You mustn’t do such a thing. They don’t allow that sort of behavior here. Now sit up straight and listen to your Auntie Josephine sing. That’s a good girl.” She strolled over to her small stage and adjusted the bodice of her gown. She cleared her throat. And then she let it rip. OPERA. Holy mother, Janice was not kidding.

  Lost in her own world, I left Josephine to her singing and continued up and around the back of the enclosure. I carefully scaled the rock wall. Back on the far side, where we shared a wall with yet another neighbor, I peeked over a boulder to see who inhabited the space. It was empty as far as I could see. The space was rocky with lots of strange trees and tall grasses. I couldn’t see beyond ten feet or so.

  “Raarrrrrr!” When a hairy, mud covered face popped up in front of me, I fell backward and probably about six feet down to the ground below. Ouch, my butt.

  “Whoa!” I gasped. I learned that the space next door wasn’t empty, and in doing so, I had nearly peed on myself.

  After getting back on my feet, I rushed around trying to find Janice. I pushed through the jungle and found two small huts made of bamboo. They sat in a little clearing. Janice was sitting outside one of them, inspecting her toenails.

  “What the hell is on that side of us?” I asked breathless, while I pointed in the direction of the thing that had growled at me.

  “Some kind of cavemen from what I can tell. Pretty entertaining. Bunch of morons trying to make fires,” she said. “Thanks, by the way, for getting Derby all fired up.”

  “Auntie Josephine? I didn’t know. Sorry.” I could still hear her belting it in the distance. “She seems sweet though.”

  “Whatever. I’m going to bed. That’s your hut and here’s your water pouch.” She pointed to the structure to the right of hers. “They brought it in this morning for you. If you need to shower, use the waterfall. It’s also for drinking. Latrine’s that way—close to the wall. It’s pretty gross, but at least it drains somewhere else. Guess the zoo didn’t want everything to be that authentic.” Janice tossed me the water pouch. Then she crawled into her hut and left me to my own devices.

  I caught the pouch with no problem, but then I dropped it on the ground as soon as it made contact with my hand. “Ugh! Gross!” I squealed. I couldn’t believe I actually squealed, but she threw me a freakin’ animal skin pouch to put water in. She had to be kidding.

  I spent the rest of the evening exploring the enclosure—without the animal skin, water pouch. I saw everything there was to see, except a way out.

  LIFE ON MARS

  On my second day, the park opened mid-morning. I could hear laughter and yelling, and I could smell coffee and sweets. When I crawled out of my hut and pushed through the jungle, I could see them. Aliens. Strangers. Future us.

  They were all dressed differently. I could pick out dozens of different eras: hippies, 1950’s housewives, futuristic metallic clothes, men with bowler hats, children dressed similar to how I used to dress, even people with clothing from King Arthur days. It was all making my head spin. Why were they all dressed so randomly? It didn’t make any sense, and I wasn’t able to come up with a single explanation.

  The confusing groups of spectators were pointing, giggling, whispering, and reading computerized informational screens on the outside of our enclosure. Children were standing on their tiptoes to get a better look. Since Janice was still asleep, all they could see was me, wild eyed and terrified. I scrambled back inside the safety of my hut and hugged my legs as tight as possible. I cried for a long time.

  Tears.

  Sobs.

  Hiccups.

  More tears.

  A few whimpers.

  No, really. I was completely lost and devastated in that moment. I wasn’t my normal self. All I could think was that my life was over. It was the most horrible experience ever, or so I thought at the time.

  When I finished feeling sorry for myself, I got angry. I rushed out of my poor excuse for a house, past the small clearing, and straight for the front of the dome. I headed straight toward the intrusive public. I beat on the glass and screamed. “Get me out of here or find someone that can! Help me!”

  Some of the children ran away screaming. Parents tugged on the few that remained, moving them on to another exhibit. Older adults made ugly faces at me and shook their heads in displeasure. I didn’t care. I kept screaming louder and louder, until Josephine Derby joined in with her own chorus. More opera. She was trying to drown me out. She did a very good job of it too. The crowds moved away from me and toward her for some better entertainment.

  I thought I was going to lose it. I stormed back up the hill to my hut. Janice was sitting on the ground flanked by two men in white coveralls. “Sorry. I should have warned you,” she said. Then she dropped her head so that her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.

  “What are you talking about? And who are you?” I spat at the two men. Unfazed, they walked over to me and jabbed me with a needle before I could decide what to do.

  WARNING

  Once again, I woke up in the white room with the floating plastic chairs and desk. My good friend Dick sat across from me. He was slicking back his greasy, black hair with his hands. When he finally noticed I was staring at him, he straightened up and cleared his throat. He was embarrassed to be caught slacking off, even if I was only an animal in his zoo.

  He stood up from his chair and walked around the side of the desk toward me. I struggled to move. My arms were strapped to the chair by white bands with no buckles. Dick stood over me, all six foot four inches of him, trying to intimidate me. He said, “You’re here because you caused a disturbance. Such things are not tolerated. This is your first warning. The second time you cause a disturbance, you will be severely punished. And the third time, well, let’s just say you’ll be back in that car we got you out of, and no one will be there to save you. Or perhaps we’ll send you somewhere that will be a lot worse than death. There are other People’s Past Anthropological Centers in this world that aren’t as nice and comfortable as this one.”

  I thought; surely there couldn’t be more places like this. And; how could they be worse than this one? I kept my eyes trained on his. I didn’t want to display weakness, like the last time I was in Dick’s presence. Truth be told, I was a mess. “You people are sick. This isn’t right,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

  “Well, like I said, we are more than happy to return you to your imminent death. Would you prefer that?” Dick asked me.

  “No, I don’t want to die,” I admitted, but I couldn’t keep my mouth closed. “How do you fool everyone?”

  “What do you mean?” he responded. Confusion was clear on his structured face.

  “The bodies—when you take us. What do you leave in our places?”

  “We mastered human cloning in the 2020’s and developed human pod farming in the 2170’s. They’re both illegal of course, except when dealing with the Centers. We are the exception to all the rules. And that’s why corporal punishment and even execution are practiced here, because in essence, you don’t really exist.” His words sent a shiver down my spine.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to our world. I asked myself, was there a certain point that we became this way? How is anyone okay with what’s happening here?

  Dick strolled back to his chair with a lazy gait and slowly lowered himself down. He casually leaned back and unbuttoned his tan trench coat. “Now, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to go back to your enclosure, farm for your food, milk the cow, and go about your daily business. Don’t talk to the public, don’t cry outside of your hut, don’t scream so people can hear you, and don’t look for a way out. There isn’t one. Understand?”

  I didn’t answer him. Instead, I stuck my tongue out at him from across the table. It was a childish thing to do, but I couldn’t d
o much else. I think he got my point.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you, brat.” Dick snapped at me.

  Then the chair injected me with something. The lights went out milliseconds after the sting of the needle.

  ROOMIES

  After my scolding, I was returned to my enclosure. The park had closed, and the sky had darkened. Close to our huts, I sat with Janice around a small fire that was contained within a circle of fist-sized stones. Every once in awhile, an artificial breeze would blow through our enclosure and make the flames dance. Unfortunately, the air wasn’t fresh. It was the same recycled, stale air that was there when I first woke upon my arrival. I still favored it over the teasing fragrance of all the food when the park was open. It was strange—the glass dome was a barrier, but also wasn’t.

  “Sorry about not warning you before.” Janice apologized again. “I did the same thing when I got here, and they took me to that white room. Is that where you went?”

  “Yes,” I answered. I was still angry and frightened from being taken.

  “I haven’t done anything to get in trouble since then. I don’t want to find out what’ll happen, you know?” She stretched her tanned legs out in front of her. Her brown sack dress was resting on her slim thighs. I was envious of her beauty and a little upset about her not warning me, but not enough to hate my only companion.

  Instead, I directed my negative feelings toward the nightmarish place where I was being imprisoned. I was seriously pissed, scared out of my mind, and feeling completely sorry for myself. I went on a blind rant. “This sucks. How am I supposed to live in a freaking jungle-farm with an opera singer and cavemen as neighbors? I mean, I was supposed to go to prom and graduate. My parents were paying for a kick ass senior trip for me to go to Paris. I was going to move away and go to college. These clothes are awful. I don’t have any shoes. I have to sleep on the ground. And how am I going to lose my virginity now? There aren’t any guys here that I can date, not to mention marry . . . I miss my life and my family. I miss . . . ” My voice caught in my throat. Tears were on the verge of spilling from the corners of my eyes.

  Janice interrupted me with giggling. “Wait. You’re a virgin? That does suck.”

  “Shut up,” I snapped at her. “I had more important things to worry about than sex with some loser high school boy. I was trying to earn a scholarship so I could go to school wherever I wanted.”

  “Actually, you’re luckier than me. I was so drugged up most of the time, I couldn’t tell you whom I’d been with.”

  I stared at her and shamefully judged her for her past life, but I also pitied her. It was shocking to me that Janice was only 16 years old. “Well, you’re lucky then, in the sense that you get to start that part of your life over. No drugs or crazy partying to screw you up. I mean don’t get me wrong, this place is totally screwed up, but I don’t think there’s any drug runners around here.” I can’t believe I was actually trying to pretend this place could be a good thing.

  “I know, but I’ll always have those crappy memories. At least the ones when I wasn’t passed out or too high to remember.” A deflated laugh escaped her lips as she nervously twirled her hair around her finger.

  Her story made me sad for her. I wanted to change the subject. “So, what’s with the people dressed in clothing from all different eras?” I asked.

  “Not sure. It’s weird, right?” she replied with an empty gaze.

  Obviously, Janice wasn’t all that concerned with what was going on outside of the enclosure, so I asked her about inside. “You’ve been farming down there in the garden?”

  “It’s not like they make it out to be. Although they don’t technically put a cooked meal out here for us, they still provide us with food. Everything is replenished right away. When you take a vegetable out of the ground, another one pops up in its place. The same thing happens with the apple tree. I have no clue how they do it, but I swear that’s what happens. And I’ve milked Betsy, the cow, a couple of times. It really creeps me out.”

  “What about meat? We aren’t supposed to kill the cow are we?” I was suddenly panicked and grossed out by the thought of butchering a cow. That would be enough to make a vegetarian out of me.

  Janice nodded her head toward the left, motioning toward the rock wall. “There’s fish in the little pond over there. Pretty easy to catch them.”

  Maybe I would turn vegetarian after all. I couldn’t see myself gutting a fish.

  Janice shrugged her shoulders in response to the face I made. She’d been in the enclosure long enough to get over such things. A month. I wondered what I would be like after a month. Right then, I was scared and angry, but I was still hopeful. I’d always been able to work my way out of a bad situation. So, I was convinced it would be the same in the human zoo. It had to be.

  I was feeling the conversation had run its course, so I stood up and excused myself. “Going to grab an apple and take a shower. See ya in the morning.” I turned to leave, but stopped when I realized something horrible. I glanced back at Janice. “They can’t see us showering or using the bathroom, can they?”

  “I know the public can’t, since the latrine is inside that hut and the waterfall is surrounded by the jungle. But I don’t know about the people that run this place. Who knows what they can see. I mean, they come into the enclosure out of thin air. So maybe they can see us without us seeing them. Best not to think about it.”

  Fabulous.

  THE KEEPERS

  “Whoa, who are they?” I asked Janice about the Keepers, since it was the first time I had experienced them making their rounds through our enclosure. They were wearing white coveralls that even covered their heads. A clear shield protected their eyes, probably because they got tired of all the people spitting in their faces and wised up. Too bad for me.

  “Those are the Keepers—like Zoo Keepers. They come by every seven days to do maintenance checks or something. It’s the only day of the week that the park is closed. I guess that means it’s probably Sunday. Oh, and they scan us with that thing that’s floating around. Not sure what it tells them because they’ve never told me when I’ve asked.” Janice answered me, while pulling weeds out of our little garden. You’d think the place would have taken care of that since they seemed to take care of everything else.

  The Keepers didn’t acknowledge our presence, not like we were people anyway. They spoke to each other with hushed voices, and pointed at things here and there. They used the floating device to test the water and air. They even scanned the glass dome. They made notes on the clear screen that followed them around in the air. It was so sci-fi.

  One of the Keepers used his index finger to drag the clear screen in front of Betsy. He pressed something of the screen. It lit up with images of the cow’s organs as he moved it along the animal’s entire body. When the scan was complete, he flicked the screen in front of me. I backed up and away from the strange thing; afraid it might hurt me or inject me with something to knock me out. It followed me. When I moved left, it moved left. When I moved right, it moved right. It followed me all the way to the enclosure’s side rock wall. I couldn’t back away any further, so I just closed my eyes and waited.

  Nothing happened. I opened one eye and then the other. I saw that Janice was being scanned, and I was standing there alone. She didn’t appear to be distressed or even mind that they were doing whatever it was they were doing. She kept on plucking away at the weeds.

  The Keepers finally left after checking stuff out in the back of the jungle area. I crept through the thick foliage and watched them as they departed. A door in the rock wall appeared out of nowhere, almost like a shimmering portal with a faint outline. It was just like Janice had described. They walked straight through the wall. Of course, I ran toward it right after they passed through, but all I found were rough boulders. No door. No cracks. Nothing. I beat my fist against the rock wall in frustration. I even kicked the hard surface, which was a huge mistake because Janice and I weren’t provided wi
th shoes.

  I was so annoyed, and my big toe was bleeding, but damn it, I was going to get out one way or another.

  ESCAPE PLAN (OR LACK THERE OF)

  “Janice!” I yelled out to my only companion, as I made my way down to the vegetable garden. “Hey, we need to talk.”

  She was still crouched down, like she was when the Keepers came through for their inspection. It was so strange to see her like that. Patient. Calm. Levelheaded. Not at all like what she described her former druggy self to be like. At least not what I would have thought she’d be like. It was nice to see her well.

  “Yeah?” she answered without looking at me.

  I stooped down next to her and whispered, “We need to get out of here. I can’t take this.”

  “We can’t get out genius,” Janice responded, clearly annoyed. “There are no doors. Not ones we can access anyways.”

  “What if we wait for them next week when they come back, and we rush them? We could do it. We could make some weapons and ambush them.” I sure did think I was a genius. At the time, I thought it was a great plan and well thought out.

  Janice stopped her mindless task of weeding and considered my idea. I could see the wheels turning in her pretty head. “I don’t know. What if we don’t succeed? They’ll probably punish us. And what if we do? Then what? We have no clue what will be on the other side of that door,” she argued.

  “Well, we’ll never find out if we don’t try. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life stuck in here?” I asked her.

  Janice glanced at the glass dome. I could tell she was thinking about the daily crowds that watch us, and that she’d never be able to be out there with them enjoying life to the fullest. I’d thought about that myself. Even if I couldn’t go back to my time, I still deserved freedom. We all deserved it—even the creepy cavemen.