It is only when the car stereo system is taken out and put on the bar that Cassidy begrudgingly decides to get a closer look. Small speakers are connected to the main device, which is larger than the one they lost early on in their journey. Examining the CD player and radio, she finds a note with the specifications and is happy to see that it holds six discs. The thought of not having to deal with Lloyd’s horrible singing after they leave Cleveland makes Cassidy so happy that she almost whoops for joy. Placing the stereo system back into the box, the young woman takes a nearby bottle of vodka and takes a quick drink.
“I still think you’re crazy, Rose, but I’m in. What about you, Lloyd?”
“Of course because I’m bored and have a new stabby to play with. Let’s get to the action before we lose the audience.”
“We’re supposed to talk to Amur.”
“Ugh. Am I allowed to skip a few scenes?”
“Just shut up, Lloyd.”
*****
The small group is forced to stop in the parking lot, their path impeded by a herd of zebra, giraffe, and impala. All of the animals are visibly on edge, which means the people cannot get any closer without risking a stampede. Far in the distance, they can see the entrance pavilion where armed men and women watch from the roof. More Guardians are around a closer building that has a glass dome on the roof and a broken archway sign. Instead of living inside with the tropical animals, the people have erected a shanty town around the structure. The makeshift village is very small, but everyone is aware that a bigger collection of tents and huts has replaced the distant zoo amphitheater. The idea of an army of Guardians puts Lloyd and Cassidy on edge, so they remain off to the side of the group and prepare themselves for a retreat in case things go horribly wrong. Nobody is sure what to do until the herd becomes agitated and rushes back into the zoo, the noisy giraffes having to go around the building and through the collapsed fence.
Passing through the entrance and arriving in a green motorized cart, Amur stops at the edge of the parking lot to greet the Metal Minstrels. The man is dressed in khaki pants, a tan shirt with multiple pockets, and work boots that are covered in what is mostly dried mud. His black hair has vibrant orange streaks and his eyes resemble those of a cat, giving him an odd appearance. A pair of binoculars dangle from around his neck and he occasionally lifts them to get a better look at the intruders. Hopping out of the cart, Amur holds up his hand to stop an unseen animal from moving. There is some gentle rustling in the overgrown grass around the perimeter of the lot, but the source remains out of sight and silent.
“Leave this place or be killed,” Amur announces in a booming voice. He taps his foot on the ground and licks his lips in mild glee that the gang refuses to listen. “I made my point when I removed the previous abominations. The longer you get in my way, the longer it will take for me to destroy this hellhole. Now go away before I unleash my army on you.”
“But I have a ticket!” Lloyd replies, waving a piece of paper around.
“Where did you get that?” Cassidy asks, snatching the yellowed stub from her companion. A groan slips from her throat when she sees what is in her hands. “You took a post-it note and wrote ‘1 Adult Zoo Ticket’ in crayon. This is an attempt to annoy Amur and goad him into a fight, right?”
“You really do know me so well,” the serial killer whispers, taking back his ticket. He whines when Tyler steals the paper and tears it in half. “You people are no fun. Besides, the guy is unarmed. There’s nothing to stop us from charging and killing him.”
“Just let me handle this. You promised to give me a chance,” Rose says before walking ahead of the group and extending her hands with palms up. Chewing on a fresh toothpick, the gang leader shivers at the sensation of being watched by many sets of hidden eyes. “We’ve come to talk, Amur. Our gang had an alliance with the Guardians. We helped them protect and recover the animals while they allowed us to guide children through the zoo. It was for education, which can help the next generation learn respect for nature. This country is starting to recover and it would be a mistake to let kids grow up not knowing about the creatures that share their world. All we ask is that you reinstate the alliance.”
“And let you teach a new generation to enjoy the slavery of animals?” Amur asks with an arrogant chuckle. A strange crackling can barely be heard from the Guardian and several areas of long grass shift against the gentle wind. “This world is going to hell because of human arrogance. Animals don’t make war or kill their own for materialistic gain. It is only for survival, which makes them purer than our kind. You speak of children learning about nature and developing respect. I think it is better to wipe them out before they can continue the damage caused by their elders. Now leave this property and never return.”
“Isn’t it hypocritical to go on about humans being abominations that hurt animals after taking over a zoo?” Cassidy asks, standing next to Rose. The blonde keeps her hands in her pea coat’s pockets, one of them torn to give her access to her handgun. “Not to offend you, but you are a human. That makes you an enemy of nature as well. Yet here you are ruling over a place that you despise instead of releasing the animals into the wild. Again, it all sounds rather hypocritical to me.”
Amur snarls and raises his fist in the air, the mysterious crackling reappearing. “The difference is that one of the most beautiful beasts has accepted me. I may have the form of a human, but my heart and soul is that of an animal. This conversation is over. You refused to listen, so now you will suffer under the law of the jungle.”
“Which law?” Lloyd interrupts, causing Amur to pause and stare at him. The serial killer shrugs and moves away from the group to stand on top of an abandoned car. “I mean, there are a bunch of laws of the jungle. It really depends on the animated movie that you’re watching. Can we choose which one we suffer under? I’d really prefer the one with the catchy song that never gets old.”
Not wanting to entertain the madman’s question, Amur drops his arm and does a feeble impression of a roar. The first of the tigers sprints out of the tall grass to the left, the powerful beast heading directly for Cassidy and Rose. More of the predators appear, but stop when Tyler regretfully shoots the nearest one with his shotgun. The echoing blast stirs the gang members into action and they retreat from the parking lot, none of them wanting to test their luck with the deadly cats. With the tigers back on the hunt, the humans spread out and take their own paths into the city. Screams rip from the slower runners who are easy prey for the animals that have been driven mad with hunger. One gasping woman stops at the edge of the main city, believing the animals will stay within the border of the zoo. The biggest of the tigers barrels toward the gang member and tackles her through a window, the roars and shouts traveling far enough to bring a grin to Amur’s face.
“The man controls tigers. I did not see that coming, but it explains the bad hair,” Lloyd says while running between Cassidy and Tyler. Rose is a few steps ahead, the faster redhead trying not to leave her friends in the dust. “So diplomacy was punched in the dick and curb stomped in the ass before it even got out of the gate. Proves you can’t negotiate with fucking crazy. Can we go somewhere to plan an attack? Daddy needs to get his kill on.”
“You three go back to the Hall of Fame while I go to the library,” Tyler orders, turning to aim his gun at an approaching tiger. Not wanting to kill another of the beasts, he fires over the beast’s head to scare it away. “I’ll join you with Awry and whatever information he has on the Cleveland Zoo and Amur. Are you two still in this to the end?”
“I haven’t gotten my pay yet and I doubt my jeep is fixed,” Cassidy answers, skidding to a stop at an alley. Seeing a tiger about to pounce, she draws one of her stun guns and watches as the yelping animal retreats from the sparking electricity. “Besides, I really want to see this Amur get taken down. Seems like he could become a bigger danger if we leave him alone, which normally wouldn’t concern me. Only problem is that he’s seen me and the last thing I want is
to get drawn into a crazy fucking war between humans and animals. Nothing to be gained from that mess and I have my own plans. Why do you keep smiling, Lloyd?”
“I’m just so happy that we’re having our first two part adventure,” the beaming serial killer states while they split from Tyler. The women stare at him with their mouths open, Rose appearing more confused than Cassidy. “It’s just that this is a bigger adventure than what we already ran into. So it has to be a two-parter. That’s how these things work in a story. The first stage of a plan fails and you need to skip time to when the second stage is about to begin. It’s a common story structure! Oh, never mind.”
“Do you know what he’s talking about?” Rose asks, keeping her emerald eyes on the pouting man. She draws her axe when he flicks a butterfly knife out of his sleeve and mindlessly juggles the slender blade. “I’m starting to worry that he is a bigger danger to us than the tigers and Amur.”
“Only if you forget to feed him,” Cassidy jokes, her voice faint as her mind wanders.
Her keen-eared friend grins before replying, “There are a lot of rules to owning a Lloyd.”
“I’m going to tell you to stop now before this gets weird.”
“First rule is that he enjoys a weekly sponge bath and needs an hour a day for alone time . . . also special magazines.”
“Thank you for continuing until I wish a tiger had bitten my ears off.”
“Even a department store catalogue will do.”
“Shut the fuck up, Lloyd!”
Songs and Stripes Part 2
Having lost six of their members to the tigers, the Metal Minstrels’ funeral services take several hours to reach their end. Rose sings an old rock song about death while Tyler plays on his crimson guitar, several other people doing their best to keep up with their own instruments. It is clear that their leaders are the only ones with real talent, but they do nothing to stop the mediocre noise from joining their duet. In place of the unrecovered bodies, six mannequins from a nearby store have been placed on a pyre that the gang originally planned on setting on fire. The idea was stopped when they realized it could leave a scorch mark on the ground, so they settle for wrapping the dummies in posters from the gift shop and tossing them into Lake Erie. It is not their traditional method of burial, which tends to involve decorating a casket and burying it in one of the city’s parks.
A boneless chicken wing sticking out of his mouth, Awry carefully places the maps of the zoo on the table. Stones are put at the corners to prevent the papers from flying away in the cool lakeside breeze. Cassidy and Lloyd patiently wait at the table, the pair each carrying two beers and sharing a bowl of sourdough pretzels. They refuse to hide their disinterest in the maps, which causes the Librarian to routinely demand that they not put their sweating drinks on the delicate papers. By the time Tyler and Rose join them, the travelers are slumped in their chairs and using leather-cushioned stools to rest their bare feet. One would never imagine that the pair have recently been on the run from tigers, especially now that they have changed into more comfortable clothes.
“I hope our situation isn’t boring you,” Tyler states, moving a seat to join them. His guitar is still in his hands, but the pick is tucked in his wild hair. “Or have you already come up with a plan to take out Amur? Keep in mind that we don’t want to start a full war. The other Guardians are following him out of fear. His weapons are the tigers, which I’m sure they refuse to kill. I’m not happy about doing that myself, so I can imagine what our old friends are thinking.”
“We get it. Flapping our gums failed and now we’re doing the assassination that should have been done before he knew about the two of us,” Lloyd mumbles, his mouth full of pretzels. He wipes a few crumbs off his shirt, his thumb lingering on the cheek of the depicted clown girl. “I feel like taking a nap and conserving my strength. Cassidy is the brains of our ragtag operation and has had less beer than me. We might be putting alcohol and water on our bill depending on how this goes. Take it away, sweet-” Lloyd stops when he hears the crackling of a stun gun under the table, his groin in reach of the weapon. “I mean, do what you do best, my crooked halo-wearing savior. Ugh, I think my shirt threw up from that.”
“I’m still thinking,” Cassidy replies before taking another swig of beer. Wearing denim shorts and a sleeveless top, the young woman starts to relax for the first time in months. “Awry can tell us what he knows about Amur while I look over the maps. Though I don’t see why we need so many, especially the sewer schematics. We’ll need to take a decent-sized force and tight, sewage-filled tunnels would be a disaster.”
“Besides, there might be alligators or crocodiles down there,” Lloyd interjects, earning a few chuckles from Tyler. Rubbing his ear, the black-haired killer grins at Cassidy and pokes at part of the map. “This animal guide says gharials, which is a kind of crocodilian. I think. Whatever, I wouldn’t be surprised if they got into the sewers. By the way, I don’t think I like how this zoo is set up. There are sharks here. Call me a purist, but I prefer my ocean animals in aquariums and land animals in zoos.”
Clearing her throat, Rose bravely asks, “What about otters, sea lions, various sea birds, and other ocean animals that have always been in zoos?”
“Well . . . you see . . . start yapping, Awry.”
The Librarian nearly chokes on his food when everyone turns to him, their silence catching the chubby man by surprise. Rubbing his hands on a cloth napkin, his mouth moves as he recalls the information he memorized before leaving the library. Fumbling through his pockets, a tiny piece of paper with crudely scrawled notes helps Awry put his thoughts in order. Sweating from the midday sun and being the center of attention, he wipes his brow with the napkin. Unknown to the Librarian, the action leaves a thick line of sauce across his forehead.
“This was a lot easier to come by than expected because Amur is being labeled as an Alpha Class Event,” Awry explains while searching a bucket for the last of the chicken wings. He only takes one bite in order to make the payment for his help last as long as possible. “We categorize current situations by their potential impact on the overall country. For example, the release of Mr. Tenay would be listed as a Delta Class Event. This means you can have a great influence on where you go, but it would always be temporary and localized. In contrast, a man like Amur has proven to be a long-lasting threat. When he arrives in an area, it always changes and so far it has never been for the best.”
“Stop pussyfooting around the truth,” Cassidy impatiently states, causing the Librarian to lose his focus. She leans forward and pats the man on the knee in apology, a forced smile the best she can manage to match his friendly expression. “I’m sorry, but I want to get this over with. Lloyd and I have our own agenda. Our location isn’t going anywhere, if it still exists in the first place, but I don’t want to get sidetracked for too long. Just let me know about Amur’s past and maybe we can find a weakness.”
“He is only a man, so the only weakness you need to find is in the zoo’s defenses,” Awry argues while examining his notes. Not wanting to anger the scowling blonde, he crumples the piece of paper and tucks it into his pocket. “Amur has been traveling east from San Diego and has been gathering tigers along the way. Nobody is sure why he chose this animal or why they follow him. The most recent report says that he is protected by twenty tigers, which is a disturbing number. It has made him a legend among the overzealous Guardians, but a concern for the overall organization. Amur arrives in a city and takes over the local group, forcing them to use his methods. Those that put up a fight are killed and fed to his pets. When he moves on, the most loyal of his new followers are left behind to keep things moving toward his vision. This has resulted in other Guardians collecting predators such as bears, wolves, and lions. Not all of them are successful. If you need to find the man’s weakness then I would go with his ego and worldview that humans are inferior. Honestly, I’m amazed he has made it this far without being killed.”
“Probably strikes
the biggest threats with his tigers right away,” Tyler guesses, cracking open a bottle of water. Licking his lips, the gang leader offers the drink to Rose who is busy staring at the map. “The entrance is too heavily guarded. We’d be taken out before we crossed the parking lot. Maybe we can go to the parkway at night and rappel off this part near the seals. Wouldn’t work with a big force though.”
“I think we have to come in by the bear lot,” Rose states, tapping the northeast corner of the map. Sensing that Awry is waiting for the last part of their deal, she hands him a giant bar of chocolate with almonds. “If Amur is obsessed with tigers then he would stay near their enclosure. With all of the prey around, he wouldn’t let them wander unsupervised. Unless he doesn’t care or figures that’s just how nature works. That brings up another problem we have to find an answer to. The animals shouldn’t be harmed, which is something we and the former Guardian leader agreed on. I’d like to think those following Amur still believe in that too. Do you think we can get away with only blunt objects, knives, and a few stun guns? That sounds very risky and puts us in a bad position.”
“Bring firearms and aim carefully,” Cassidy replies with a yawn. Glancing over her shoulder, she watches the street where a trio of motorcycles are racing. “I have a plan, but it doesn’t work off subtlety. All of us get into vehicles and plow through the fence by this monkey island spot. The noise should drive the animals away from the fight and maybe even those who aren’t happy with Amur and his coup. Probably best to do this at dawn when the majority of the humans will be in their shanty towns. Only way to make it a better plan is to have someone crazy enough to act as a distraction in the main parking lot.”
Lloyd pretends to wake up from a deep sleep and scratches his belly, the act exposing his koi fish shaped scar. “I shall endeavor to make you proud, General Bra Strap Is Showing! Just give me the megaphone and don’t ask questions.”
Crossing Bedlam Page 9
