Annaliese looked around for the female orang-utan but could see no sign of her. The mangrove tree was undisturbed. Maybe the ape had gone inside where it was warmer. It would make sense if everyone else had her blankets.
Annaliese headed for the enclosure’s bungalow and stooped down through the hatch. She re-entered the cage inside and saw that Lily was still nowhere to be seen.
The reason was right in front of her.
The wire mesh door to the cage was hanging wide open, its padlock still unclasped. She put both of her hands to her face as she realised she hadn’t relocked it after coming inside.
Shit. What have I done?
She couldn’t believe that she’d let a wild and potentially dangerous animal loose from its enclosure. It was reckless and irresponsible. But, the more she actually thought about it, the more she was glad. With things the way they were, there was no one left to take care of Lily. It was better that she was free than locked up and neglected. At least this way, the animal had a chance.
I hope you find somewhere safe, Lily.
She stepped out of the cage and headed for the bungalow’s exit. She needed to re-join the others in the office block. They could be wondering where she was.
Exiting the bungalow, she rubbed at her shoulders and fought against the cold. The park was bathed in a coppery glow as the sun continued to rise in the sky. The park was quite beautiful at this time of day, without the hustle and bustle of people ruining things.
“Anna!”
Up ahead, Shawcross was hurrying towards her. “For heaven’s sake,” he said. “What are you doing out here?”
“I went for a walk last night. Trying to clear my head.”
“Well, it was very irresponsible of you. How do we have a hope of getting through this if people start doing their own thing?”
“Sorry, I just lost track of time, I guess.” She didn’t want to tell him about where she had slept last night. He wouldn’t believe her and would more likely just get furious that she had released one of the park’s animals.
Not that I give two shits about what he thinks. I just can’t be doing with the lecture.
Shawcross frowned at her for what seemed like a full minute-and-a-half before he finally let the issue go. He turned around with a huff, speaking with his back turned to her. “There’s lots to be done, Anna, so go and join back up with the others. If Clark is with you then tell him the same thing.”
“Wait, what? I haven’t seen Clark. How long has he been gone?”
Shawcross turned back around. “I’m not sure. Everyone pretty much fell asleep once things were settled. I don’t recall seeing him for quite a while now.”
Annaliese closed the distance between them. “Well, didn’t you think to look for him?”
“That’s what I’m doing now, isn’t it? I found you and I’ll no doubt find Clark just as easily.”
Annaliese stared over at the office block. In the light of day it was grey and depressing. “How did you get out of the building? Did you come through the broken window?”
Shawcross shook his head. “We were able to unlock the front entrance from the inside. It was on a latch. We can come and go as we please now, so we’ll probably get that broken window boarded up today.”
Annaliese had a bad feeling in her tummy. Something wasn’t right. She pushed Shawcross aside and headed for the building.
“What’s wrong?” he shouted after her. But she didn’t answer him. She didn’t want to voice out loud what she was thinking, not without being sure.
I hope I’m wrong.
She made it over to the building entrance and pulled open the door. As she stepped inside she was aware that Shawcross was right behind her. Despite her dislike of the man, she was glad for the company at that moment. If she found what she expected to then she didn’t want to be alone.
To the right, at the end of the corridor, was a door she assumed led to the office they were using to store Tom and Charlotte’s bodies. It turned out that she was right. The door led to the room where they had first broken in.
The stench of dead bodies descended upon Annaliese, scraping at the inside of her nostrils. Tom and Charlotte had already started to decay.