Free Animal Kingdom by Iain Rob Wright

animal’s face and head. Eventually, the rat’s squeals weakened into breathless whimpers, finally fading away to silence. The furry body went limp and Joe pulled open the tongs, letting it fall to the floor.
    “ It’s dead,” said Mason.
    Joe was panting and struggled to get his words out as his vision dimmed. “One crispy fried mother-fucker. Now…can I please… get that first aid kit?”
    Joe’s vision spiralled into darkness as a switch went off in his head. His vacant body collapsed onto the floor, spilling fresh blood onto the tiles.
     
     
    Chapter Ten
     
    “ It’s time to start planning, my friends.” Randall had perched himself down on the edge of a desk as he addressed those present in the room. “It took me a little time, I’ll admit it now, but I’ve finally come to understand the situation we are in. It will take organisation and planning to survive. We all need to be moving in the same direction. Writing on the same page.”
    “ What do you suggest?” asked the man he thought of as ‘Cosby.’
    “ That we act now rather than later. We need to find food, blankets, water. The building needs to be secured – at least our part of it. A strategy has to be in place if we are to get through this together.”
    “ Where do we start?” The brunette girl, Grace, asked him. She was young and attractive, if a little plain. Randall noticed that her fingernails were chipped and thought it made her look cheap. That and the many faint scars that lined her arms.
    One of those self-harming wackos by the looks of things. Goddamn nutcases.
    “ In order of priority, my dear,” he answered her. “We need to secure this floor as much as possible, windows as well as doors. Then we need to find food and water. Once we’ve got those we can concentrate on settling in and working out where everyone is going to sleep. I think we should split into two teams.” Everyone seemed to be in agreement, so he continued. “Victor, you take Bill and Shirley. I’ll take Grace and Mr. Mason. That is, whenever he returns from whatever it is that he’s doing.”
    “ What about Joe?” Grace asked.
    Randall thought about it for a moment. “I was assuming that he could actually look after his son for once. I know he seems to prefer that you look after him, my dear, but right now the group needs you.”
    Grace looked down at the little boy, asleep in her arms. “I’ll just look after him until his dad gets back.”
    “ Where is he anyway?” Victor asked.
    “ He stayed behind in the lab with Mason,” said Bill. “I think they’re bandaging his wounds up.”
    Randall sighed. “Let’s hope he hurries up and makes some use of himself.”
    Bill tutted. “I think Joe has shown himself to be more than useful on a number of occasions.”
    Victor sniggered. “Sounds like you wanna butt fuck the guy? Big dumb blonds your type?”
    “ Screw you!”
    “ You wish, gayboy.”
    Randall put a stop to things before they could go any further. Childishness was anti-beneficial right now. “Gentlemen, please remember that you will be working together. Try to behave like adults.”
    Victor put his hands up, a wide grin upon his broad, cat-like face. “I’m just fooling around. He knows I don’t mean it.”
    “ Yeah right,” said Bill.
    Randall waved a hand dismissively. “Okay, you two take Shirley and begin checking for any areas that need securing. It wouldn’t hurt to seek out weapons too. See what you can find.”
    Victor nodded and took off immediately. After a short while, Shirley and Bill followed after him. That left Randall and Grace alone.
    Along with the brat, of course . Where the hell has his deadbeat father gotten to anyway, for heaven’s sake? Maybe those animals have escaped their cages and torn him apart. One can only hope...
    Randall scolded himself for such an ill-natured thought. Such a harsh attitude was not the way to proceed in the current situation. A certain amount of tact would be needed. He sat down