Free Animal Kingdom by Iain Rob Wright Page B

His head throbbed like a drum beat, but the worst pain was in his leg. It felt like it was being held over a flame.
    “ Are you okay?” asked a voice from somewhere in the room.
    Joe didn’t reply for a few moments, and at first didn’t even know who the other person was. Then, as he continued staring at the blank white ceiling and listening to the chaotic sound of rattling cages in the room, everything came flooding back.

He tried to sit up, but Mason held him down. “Wait a few minutes. Catch your breath.”
    Joe complied, but was still panicking on the inside. “The animals, they’ve gone mad. I need to find Danny.”
    Mason shushed him. “Danny is fine. He’s with Grace. You’ve been out for almost ten minutes.”
    Joe remembered passing out because of the pain. “My leg?”
    “ I think you’ll be okay. You’ve got a pretty deep gash, but I stopped the bleeding. I bandaged it while you were out. Your arm too.”
    Joe examined himself and allowed himself a small laugh at the absurdity of what he looked like. A mummy in training . “I feel like a train hit me.”
    Mason smiled in a reassuring manner. It was surprising how much the curator’s dry personality and lack of social skills could still be such a comfort. “You certainly have been in the wars,” he said to Joe. “Come on, I think you’re okay to get up now.”
    Joe took Mason’s arm around his shoulders and heaved himself up onto one knee. After a couple of deep, laboured breaths he pushed himself up onto his feet. Pain stabbed through the bite-mark on his right thigh, but he fought it to the back of his mind. He had to get back to Danny.
    “ Easy there,” said Mason, steadying him.
    “ I’m okay. Let’s just get out of here.”
    The two of them headed back out into the corridor and crossed over to the other side. Mason opened the door to the seminar room and stepped inside. Joe followed, limping and stiff.
    “ Where is everyone?” Mason asked.
    Joe’s stomach rolled and a spark shot up his spine. “Where’s Danny? Where’s my son?”
    “ I’m sure it’s nothing. Let’s just go look for them before jumping to any unhelpful conclusions.”
    Joe clenched his giant fists and felt himself tremble. They had no right to move Danny without informing him first. He stormed out of the room. If it were not for the agony in his leg he would have run.
    “ Slow down,” Mason shouted from behind him.
    But Joe did the opposite. He sped up, zigzagging the corridor from door to door and checking behind each one. Every room was empty.
    “ Danny!” he shouted.
    Somewhere up ahead, a voice shouted back. Joe finally managed to run, ignoring the pain in his leg. Up ahead on the left was a room with the label: WAREHOUSE – UPPER BALCONY.
    “ Dad, I’m here.”
    The voice definitely came from the room in front of him, and it definitely belonged to his son. Joe pulled down the handle and pushed open the door. Inside was a cavernous room that stretched down to an open space at ground-level. It looked like a storage space for the zoo, a warehouse full of random crates and boxes. Joe was standing on a metal walkway that towered above. It led to a flight of stairs on the right and left to a small, windowed cubicle-office. Danny was inside the office.
    Randall was with him.
    “ Son of a bitch!” Joe sprinted into the office just as Randall turned around to face him. The punch caught the man square in his flabby jaw, knocking him sprawling to the floor. Joe stood over him. “What the hell are you doing with my son?”
    Randall cowered, scooting back on his backside as he rubbed at his chin. “Are you insane?”
    Joe noticed his son, shaking in the corner, and put an arm out. “Danny, come here.”
    Danny ran over to his father, buried his face in his stomach, and wrapped his arms around him. Joe turned his stare back to Randall. “Why were you alone with my son?”
    “ He wasn’t alone,” said a voice behind Joe.
    He turned around to find Grace