Beastly
Submitted to NYC Midnight as part of their 1000 word Flash Fiction Challenge 2020. Written on 07/12/20.
Contest Round 1 Criteria:
Genre: Action / Adventure
Location: Wildlife Sanctuary
Item: Paddleboard
When the time comes to run, is it the wild animals or us who are the beasts?
“Feeding time, you filthy animals,” a voice called to the enclosure.
The pack scurried over towards the voice. Feeding time was their favorite time of the day and it only came once. Sad, really, that a wildlife “sanctuary” would treat them like this. But, then again, they were wild.
Amara hung back, observing the chaos from afar. She was smaller than the others, but also smarter. She was plotting her escape while the others followed blindly, consumed by hunger.
Today, Buck, the feeder, had a new assistant. He was a slender, sympathetic-looking man with thick glasses.
“Do you have to talk to them like that?” he asked Buck, who chortled as he threw the bucket of meat down into the enclosure.
Now the pack was swarming beneath them, ravenous. Still, Amara paced on the outer edge, her eyes never leaving the pre-slaughtered prey.
“What are you, a bleeding-heart hippie? They can’t understand you. They only know one thing: hunger.”
A fight over a femur broke out between a few in the pack, distracting them. Amara leapt out of the shadows, snatched the femur for herself, and slipped back into the shadows with no one the wiser. Except him. She saw the assistant looking down at her in awe.
“What about that one?”
Amara watched him curiously, gnawing on the bone.
“Oh, that one’s trouble. They call her Amara. I just call her Red.”
“She seems different from the others… intelligent,” the other man said.
“Look, Travis- “
“Trevor.”
“Look, Trevor,” Buck corrected with a slimy smile. “They might seem cute, but they’re killing machines. That’s why we don’t let in guests to take photos with them anymore. Red’s dangerous.”
Amara continued to stare up at them as she cleaned the meat from the femur. Could this new one, Trevor, be her key to escape?
“Understood,” Trevor said, not breaking eye contact with Amara.
Buck checked his watch and then said, “Well, it’s time for our lunch now, newbie. See you in an hour.”
He left Trevor standing at the railing over the enclosure. The rest of the pack had wandered off with their food by now, so Amara and Trevor were alone.
“You’re different, aren’t you?” he whispered to Amara over the railing. “You can come out. I won’t hurt you.”
She cautiously stepped out into the light. As if she would fear him. He looked around quickly and then rushed over to a caged metal staircase leading down into the enclosure. Amara slinked over towards the bottom of the stairs, observing him. He fumbled with a ring of keys before finding the right one and unlocking the door with a click. One more check and then he made his way down the stairs to where she was waiting for him.
Now, only a tall gate of metal bars stood between them. They locked eyes and Amara watched a chill ripple over Trevor.
“I’m getting you out of here, sweetheart,” he said nervously.
His hands were shaking as he unlocked the gate. He could go to jail for this. He could die for this if he wasn’t careful with her. She could maul him in an instant. But the world needed to see how the sanctuary really operated behind the scenes.
The gate creaked open just enough for Amara to slip through and then Trevor locked it behind her. The others hadn’t noticed. He pulled out a small GoPro and began filming.
“You’ve seen the horrible conditions here. Now I’m setting Amara free.”
He pointed the GoPro at Amara, who stared blankly into the lens. It reminded her of the fish eyes they sometimes got to eat. Trevor clipped the camera onto his vest just as Amara charged up the stairs with breakneck speed. Trevor tried to keep up. She reached a lobby and there were two employees mingling. Trevor didn’t even have the chance to stop her before Amara lunged out onto the floor, ferociously gnashing her teeth at the two employees. Shots rang out as one of the employees managed to get their gun free, but Amara kept up her attack. She clawed at them and tore at their throats. Nothing, she told herself, would stand between her and freedom.
She stood before the two employees, licking their blood from her face as they bled out on the floor.
“Jesus Christ!” Trevor called out in shock.
Shakily, he pulled out his own gun and pointed it down at her. With her eyes locked on his, a low growl escaped her throat. She inched backwards towards the door. He crept along after her, his gun still trained on her head in-case she tried to attack him, too. She could smell the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He was terrified and he smelled delicious.
Still, she let him open the door for her, and Amara flung herself wildly out into the open. An employee loading paddleboards into a truck for the lake excursions did a double take as she darted past.
“We’ve got a runner!” he shouted into a walkie talkie.
Gunshots zipped by, but Amara continued sprinting towards the main gate. If she could make it over, she would be free to hunt and free to run.
A shot lodged deep in her neck and she fell sideways with a grunt.
“Got her!” someone called out.
Amara lay still now, panting in the sun. Buck’s face filled her vision and he grimaced down at her as he pointed his gun at her face.
“She’s just a child!” Trevor screamed. “This is supposed to be a sanctuary!”
Buck callously pressed his boot into her chest and Amara clawed at his jeans. She was so close to freedom.
“She’s a goddamn zombie in a zoo,” Buck said with disgust. “She’s a beastly 10-year-old that wants to eat your brains for fuck’s sake. Now Red has to be put down like the animal she is.”
“Amara!”
Her mouth opened to say, “Please,” just as the bullet passed through.
