Chapter 3

Everyone was stuck inside the zoo, forced to take cover nearby, clutching their heads and sobbing in despair.

The lion's gleaming ivory fangs flashed coldly in the dim light, streaked with fresh blood and reeking of death. It curled its lips into a chilling grin and let out a low, sinister chuckle.

It said, "Anyone who brought grapes in is finally gone for good. Isn't that just perfect? Now, the rest of you can move on to the next exhibit.

"Go wild, folks. Don't hold back. Pretend this place is your own.

"Move it to the next exhibit. There's a hotel waiting for you. Crash there if you're tired. Rest up, because I've got more surprises for you."

I froze, my breath catching in my throat as I gripped Katie's hand tighter. A wave of dread washed over me.

The staff led the way, and we followed them into an underwater tunnel.

But instead of fish, the water was filled with chewed-up bodies, torn apart and drifting everywhere. Chunks of flesh floated on the surface, and half a head with its eyeball popping out stared right at me.

These had all been living, breathing people, but they'd died in bizarre, horrifying ways.

People huddled together in small groups, clutching each other as they shuffled through the corridor, faces pale and bodies trembling.

Some just collapsed on the floor, too terrified to even stand.

I covered Katie's eyes and kept moving forward, trying to look calm, but my skin crawled with fear.

From a distance, I spotted a few staff members peeling off their fake faces. It turned out they were weasels underneath.

One of them said, "Take a whiff of that! Smells amazing. Just imagine tossing this into grilled meat. Oh, delicious."

Another chimed in, "Yeah. We bagged a whole bunch this time. No way we can finish them all, but selling the leftovers outside will make us rich."

My mind just shut down, and sweat beaded on my brow.

Before we could get to the black bear exhibit, the staff ushered us into a luxury hotel, greeting us with polite smiles.

One of them said, "Looks like you guys are wiped out after all that excitement today.

"The black bear exhibit and the rest of the attractions are temporarily off-limits. You'll have to crash here for the night. We'll give you a heads-up when things open back up."

My heart was in my throat, and that bad feeling just kept getting worse.

As soon as we stepped into the hotel, I froze, a chill creeping over me.

The room was decked out in luxury. Even the paintings and decorations looked like priceless antiques.

But what really freaked me out was that, along with the famous art, there were a few peaches hanging on the wall.

The purple bag had the logo of Brafy Supermarket. I recognized it right away. It was the same one Pablo was carrying this morning.

A shiver ran down my spine.

With the lion going berserk just now, I barely had time to process what might've happened to Pablo, who still hadn't come inside.

He was holding the grapes I gave him, and the last person he talked to was one of the park's security guards.

I told Katie to get some rest, then hurried off to the underwater tunnel to look for Pablo.

But no matter how hard I searched, he was nowhere to be found. Did he disappear? Or worse?

He probably made it out alive.

I guessed he noticed something was off when he was talking to the security guard outside. So, he ditched the grapes and bolted as soon as the lion started attacking.

If I'd managed to find him before the staff did and told him to dump those grapes, he might've actually made it.

But when I got to the exit of the underwater tunnel, two weasels were standing there, brandishing axes to block my way.

"No skipping ahead. You're not allowed out until you've toured every single exhibit," one of them sneered.

"Come on, pretty boy, just go back to the hotel and get some rest," the other one said, mocking me.

The weasels gave me cold, dead-eyed looks.

I pulled out some dried fish from my backpack and offered it to them, begging them to cut me some slack and let me out. But they just kept their faces grim and didn't even bother to respond.

They simply reminded me that they were only following orders.

I let out a sigh, feeling helpless.

"Look, I've got something urgent at home. I really need to get out. Can you just tell me when I can leave?" I begged, frustration creeping into my voice.

The weasels just shot each other a look and smirked, refusing to answer.

My heart skipped a beat as I caught a glimpse of the guard post to my left. My eyes went wide in disbelief.

The place was crammed full of weasels. There must've been a thousand of them, all clutching axes and standing upright like people, shooting me dirty looks.

I was freaked out by the sight. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought it might explode.

With this many weasels around, I was afraid if we were actually trapped there.

What kind of nightmare place was this?

Was there even a chance we'd ever get out and make it home?

My eyes filled with fear and helplessness as I spun around and sprinted back to the hotel.

That was freaking terrifying.

Why did these weasels look and move around just like people?

Human ancestors started trying to walk upright about seven million years ago, and it wasn't until the Homo erectus era, around 1.8 million years ago, that we finally mastered walking on two legs.

But these animals managed to pick up walking, talking, and living like humans in just a blink. That was totally unreal.

We barely escaped with our lives back in the lion exhibit, and I had this gut feeling the black bear exhibit was going to be even more terrifying and deadly.

Maybe this whole nightmare was just a twisted hunt for humans. If one wanted to make it out alive, he had to follow the animals' rules to the letter.

When I came back to the room, I found Katie missing.

She'd left a note, saying she was going to try to make it home, and apologized for leaving me behind.

I knew there was no way she could escape, but I never imagined that, at a life-or-death moment, she'd actually leave me there and head out alone to find a way out.

I forced myself to calm down, grabbed a pen and some paper, and started scribbling out a plan for what I'd do next.

At three in the morning, the doorbell suddenly rang.

"Mr. Ross, here's your hotel midnight snack, compliments of the house," a voice called out.

A weasel grinned as it set a black bag down at my door, then covered its mouth and giggled as it walked away.

I hung my head, dead tired, and pulled the bag inside after opening the door.

Inside was a big slab of stinking, rotten meat with flies squirming all over it, plus two uncooked corn cobs.