Zoo (18 page)

“
How do you know all this?
When are you from?” Kale asks.

“
I was taken in 2267,”
Kansas answers.

Kale is shocked, as am I. He wants to know
more. “So you’ve lived out there recently and they sent you here.
Why?”

“
I have no idea. Maybe
they were worried about placing me in a regular zoo, because I
already know about them. Maybe they thought I could find a way out.
Like I said, I have no idea.”

I’m having a hard time computing all of
this. It’s so horrible and weird. I say as much, “This is so crazy.
I can’t believe that much has changed. And they think this fits
into their utopian world? What a joke.”

I glance over to James to see how he is
taking the news. His face is stormy and he looks like a stranger.
He’s becoming more and more so the longer I’m in his company. A
stranger. It’s unsettling and it makes me question my judgment.

I turn my attention back to Kansas. “So, you
were taken in 2267, not born in 2267. How old are you then?” I
ask.

“
I think I turned 18 a
couple of weeks ago.” She stops fidgeting with the glass and looks
at all of us. “So, you wanted to know about the goings-on of this
enclosure, right? Well, the woods where they dropped you—there are
people that live in the trees. You probably didn’t notice them, but
they were there. They pretty much keep to themselves unless someone
bothers them. If you travel there, keep your belongings secure,
because they’ll swoop down and swipe them from you. You’ll never
hear them coming.” I get the shivers as I remember that we slept
there just last night. We didn’t have anything to steal, so that’s
probably why we didn’t run into them. “The two houses next door are
abandoned. Some Russians set fire to one of them and stole
everything they could carry, including the people that lived there.
The other one has been pillaged as well. No one will inhabit it
because it is too dangerous to live there. They’re sitting ducks. I
live here with three guys and another girl. The girl was born in
the 1980’s. She’s 14. One of the guys was born in 1932. He’s in his
forties. And the other two guys are around my age. One was born in
the 1970’s and one was born in 2016. He’s the latest birth date
I’ve heard of here besides me.”

Kale interrupts, “Wait a minute. You said no
one lives in the other house because it’s too dangerous. What about
this house? Are we in danger?” He looks like he’s ready to spring
into action, arms and neck tensed for a fight.

“
No. People know not to
mess with this house.”

Could she be more cryptic?

Kale doesn’t accept Kansas’ answer. “What
does that mean?”

She becomes agitated and says, “Just what I
said. People know not to mess with this house. You’re safe. Please
drop it.”

“
No, I won’t drop it. I
have women to keep safe. I want to know,“ he argues. I notice he
left out James.

It’s me that interrupts now, because I want
her to keep telling us about this place. “Kale, it’s fine. We’re
fine. She said we’re safe. I believe her.” I look over to Kansas.
“Sorry. Please continue. We need to know about the others as
well.”

She relaxes a little and motions behind her
back with her thumb. “You obviously passed that western town when
you came in. Bunch of imbes if you ask me. Always gambling for
food, women, and weapons. They tend to stick together and defend
their town and their people—unless someone’s caught cheating. Then
they’ll turn on each other.”

“
Imbes?” we all ask at
once, confused.

“
Yeah. You know,
imbeciles. Lunatics.” She keeps going, not realizing we don’t know
the slang of her time. “Most of the Asian people live in that red
building past the western town. The time differences don’t seem to
matter with them. I wouldn’t go over there though, if I were you.
They don’t take kind to strangers, and they have at least a dozen
armed men standing guard at all times. They’ll stop you before you
get anywhere near the entrance. Grass huts are empty. They all got
killed off years ago. Um . . . There’s the mountains, well, hills
really. Stay away from the caves. They call them the ‘Cannibal
Caves.’ These dark as death people live in there. They mark their
bodies with this white and yellow paint. I’ve only seen them once
before, on accident. They blend in with the nature and sneak up on
you. Then they have you for dinner.”

Victoria grabs Kale’s arm
and whimpers. I feel like we’re sitting around a campfire listening
to ghost stories. Victoria is playing the part of the helpless girl
that’s trying to get the guy’s attention by acting overly
scared.
That girl usually dies first,
right?
I’m only kidding. Shame on me for
thinking that, but I can’t help it.

“
There are other people
that live hidden in the mountains. We trade with them sometimes.
They survive by keeping hidden, moving often, and trusting only us.
It’s a hard way to live here. On the other side of the mountains,
you can find the worst of the worst: Vikings, pirates, Nazis,
African warlords, you name it. They’re always fighting each other
over there, and occasionally they come over here and attack the
smaller groups. Luckily, each of those groups is too small on its
own to take on one of the bigger groups on this side of the
mountain. They haven’t figured out that if they band together, they
could wipe us all out. So, if you see them coming, it’s best just
to leave. Let them take what they want and clean up when they’re
done. Remember that, because they like to steal women for brides
and sex. The men they don’t kill—they use them as slaves.” Kansas
leans back in her barstool, her tale-of-terror now over.

“
What about the castle?” I
ask because she failed to mention it. The fortress or castle or
whatever it is, is so haunting and ominous. It’s intriguing as
well.

“
Oh yeah. They have a king
that’s pretty brutal. He controls most of this side of the mountain
range or so he likes to think. He’s been known to make fair trades,
but if he doesn’t receive exactly what he’s looking for in return,
he’ll go on a rampage killing anyone in his path. Likes to put
people’s heads on stakes on his front lawn. Besides him, the people
there are mostly British and Eastern Europeans. He takes pretty
good care of his commoners—I hear—so long as they obey
him.”

Kale has more questions for her now that
he’s settled into believing that we are actually safe. “So how does
the food thing work? Do they replace what you eat? Do you have to
hunt? Where did you get peanut butter and jelly?”

“
And shampoo?” I
add.

Kansas laughs and then her
teal eyes turn serious. She says, “I wish they automatically
replaced everything. That would be nice. The stuff in the
house
is
provided
directly to us: soap, clothes, and all that. But the food is a
different story. What happens is; once a week the Keepers drop five
crates filled with food around the enclosure. You fight for your
food or you let the others fight for it. Then you trade with them.
Either way, you don’t eat without sacrificing
something.”

Suddenly, my peanut butter and jelly
sandwich seems to have new meaning. I look at my empty plate and
then over to Kansas who’s fed all four of us freely.

James hasn’t said a word, and Victoria is
being a bit of a space cadet, only really listening when food is
mentioned. She has no interest in this new world’s ways.

DID I REALLY MAKE A HEAVEN REFERENCE?

James remained especially quiet throughout
our entire meal and Kansas’ stories. I worry about how he’s
feeling, so when he stands to leave the room, I follow him to the
upstairs bedroom. This will be the first time we’ve been alone. I
want to use it to learn more about him—find out what he’s thinking
and see if I made the right decision about him. Now that I’ve
actually been around him, I’m discovering that his good looks may
be all that is drawing me to him. We aren’t clicking on other
levels. Maybe it’s just our situation and surroundings. Maybe
not.

I reach out for his hand. It’s rough from
the physical labor of his past life. He squeezes my hand in return
and turns around to face me. The look on his face is indescribable.
He’s got some kind of inner turmoil going on behind those cool blue
eyes.

He reaches around me with his free hand and
pushes the door shut. Then, his face changes; it becomes lustful.
He looks down at my body and back up to my lips. He backs me
against the door and lifts me up on my toes so that I’m eye level
with him. He forcefully presses his lips against mine and holds
tight to my hips. I’m shocked at first, but I can’t deny my
physical attraction to him. I kiss him back more softly, trying to
slow down his urgency.

James doesn’t take the hint. Instead, he
tugs at my shirt, pulling it over my head. I let him have his way
without much hesitation, because I have a giant sports bra covering
my chest. He kisses my neck and then moves down to my left
shoulder, so hungry for my flesh. I feel wanted and excited, but
not ready to go all the way—not ready to go any further than this.
Plus, Kale’s disappointed face keeps popping up in my mind.

Go away
! I scold the imaginary Kale.

James pulls back from the door and carries
me over to the bed. He lowers me down and moves his hands down to
the button and zipper of my jeans. I freeze. I move my hands over
his and say, “James, I’m not ready for that. We barely know each
other.”

“
We’ve spent months
communicating. You know me,” he says in response. He tries to push
my hands away.

Do
I know him? We
have
spent months communicating. I know about his
family and where he’s from. I know how old he is and what he did
for a living back in his time. But no, I don’t
know
him. Not really. I only know
what he told me.

Who
is
James?

“
No James. I don’t know
you well enough yet. Please stop.” I try to wiggle out from under
him.

He grabs both of my hands in his one strong
hand and pins them over my head as he continues to undo my pants. I
try to thrash around, but he’s so much taller and stronger than I
am. He tries to kiss me again, but I bite his lip. He wears the
face of a complete stranger.

As I struggle against him,
my mind is on overdrive. I ask myself,
what the hell is happening? I thought he was a nice guy. If
he just wanted to get some, why didn’t he have sex with Victoria
(warranted she was willing)? No! No! No!
I
can’t stop screaming in my head.

“
Get off me!” I scream at
him when I find my voice.

He pulls my pants down to my knees and
covers my mouth by pushing my hands over it. My teeth dig into my
palm, as it’s forced further into my mouth. It hurts. I keep trying
to scream, but the sounds are muffled.

He whispers in my ear while he tries to
unbuckle his own jeans. “I’ve been waiting for this. You teased me
for weeks in that tiny little dress.”

I shut my eyes, waiting
for the pain. Tears escape and slide down the sides of my face. And
all I can think is;
how is this
happening?

The door to the room flies open. It’s Kale.
He pauses, trying to make sense of the scene before him. I try to
scream for help, even though I’m sure Kale realizes I need help.
His face transforms from being stunned to absolute rage. James
stands up just in time to receive Kale’s powerful tackle. They slam
into the second story window. It shatters. Shards of glass rain
down onto the ground outside the home. When James forces his way
back into the center of the room, I see that the back of his neck
is bleeding.

I scramble to re-dress as the two guys have
a stand off.

“
What the hell do you
think you’re doing with Emma?” Kale hollers at James.

“
Mind your own business,
hombre. She wanted it.” He glances in my direction with a sleazy
grin.

Oh hell no.
I’ll take care of this myself.

I reach over next to the
queen-sized bed and yank the lamp off the nightstand. Kale notices
what I’m doing and shuffles around, causing James to shift
positions. He’s now standing with his back to me. I turn the lamp
over in my hands so that the base points up, and then I take a
swing at James’ fat head.
Pop!
And he’s down for the count.

After jumping off the foot of the bed, I
reach to feel James’ neck for a pulse. It’s still pounding away. I
look over to Kale, who’s still beyond angry. His fists are clenched
and he’s breathing heavily. “What should we do with him?” I
ask.

“
Well, I say shoot him,
but I guess it’s up to you.” Then he kicks James in the rib cage.
“Asshole.”

MORE SURPRISES

Kale drags James’ limp body down the stairs,
not caring that his head is bumping down every single step. He
leaves him lying on the floor next to the front door. Victoria and
Kansas come into the room from the separate kitchen and breakfast
area when they hear the commotion. “What happened?” Kansas asks
when she sees that James is unconscious and bleeding.

I turn bright red. Kale is kind enough to
answer for me when he sees that I’m embarrassed. “He tried to force
himself on Emma.”

Somehow this is funny to Victoria because
she starts laughing. Hysterically.

“
Hey, screw you Victoria!”
I yell at her.