"Buzz Buzz News" had more than thrice praised "ZOONIOR PARK" for its excellent assortment of security guards. Stationed in guard lounges and surveillance rooms in various shifts with routined patrolling every hour, their security level was labeled top-notch throughout the nation. That is why despite the massive proportions of the zoo area, no one especially children never got lost.
Addy was used to seeing a guard at every turn she took while working in the zoo- overstaffed one would say. However, as the holiday season approached, the number of guards mysteriously dwindled until it was as clear as sparkling water that they were understaffed.
Addy knocked on the security room door, half-expecting it to creak open to reveal a barren room. It didn't. The flimsy plastic door slid open smoother than butter.
"Riku? You back so soon?" A deep voice thundered from the shadow of the dimly-lit room.
Addy coughed in an attempt to grasp his attention.
"Caught cold, mate?" The voice asked, still mistaking her for someone else. "Told you to grab a jacket, you arrogant moron."
"For a security guard, you don't seem to be very alert." Addy finally decided to use her voice.
The owner of the deep voice whirled around in surprise. His pear-shaped body emerged out of the shadows.
He blinked at her.
She blinked at him.
They both weren't expecting to see each other.
The guard was expecting his fellow colleague who had set out for a late night patrol across the zoo. Instead he was looking at a woman whose intense gaze rattled him to his very core. Stray hair lashing out of her tight ponytail and a huge vacuum in her hands, she was not a pleasant sight.
Addy, on the other hand, was not expecting a scrawny male with thick rimmed glasses, hands full of half-eaten pizza slices and grease glistening on his lips. His protruding belly could give pregnant woman a competition which was surprising considering how lanky his build was. She was sure every staff in the premise had been strictly ordered to not intake food during duty or they might be punished. She had just caught him red handed in the act.
The guard was the first one to thaw from his stupor. In a panicked motion, he threw the slice of pizza in his hand behind him into the realm of darkness. "Want anything?" He was quick to ask, his desperate attempt to shift the focus evident on his shifty face.
Addy nodded with scrunched up eyebrows, lamenting the good slice of pizza he had let gone to waste.
"What is it?" He prodded eager to get it done with.
"Umm…how many guards are on duty right now?"
"And how might that information help you?"
"Are you understaffed?" She popped another question, not deterred by his sharp tone.
"We do have a few staff on holidays…" He stopped to give it a thought. "But again why do you need to know that?"
"Did anyone ask Kevin to help you guys out today?"
The guard snapped, done with answering her barrage of questions. "What's up with this interrogation? Just get to the point!"
"Someone trespassed into the zoo." Addy complied, all the while staring at the rude guard trying to gauge his reaction.
A moment of pregnant silence cascaded over them.
"Pfft! That's impossible! I was stationed on the cameras since evening!"
Addy frowned. "You don't seem very diligent at work though."
The guard frowned back, stroking his musty brown hair back, unbothered by the grease on his fingers. "Excuse me?"
"Am I interrupting something?" Another man in security uniform said as he walked passed Addy into the room.
"Not at all." The lanky guard answered. "I was just asking this woman here to take her leave. This room is for authorized personnel only."
"Oh." The other guard said as he flicked the lights on which showered the room with light. He placed a package on one of the several desks. "My wife sent me pudding. Want some?"
The other one licked his lips. "Sure."
This gave Addy the opportunity to fully inspect the surveillance room. It was vaster than it appeared from the outside even though the room for sure lacked windows, had edgy lighting and enough wires in the floor to be mistaken as baby cobras.
"Are you not even going to listen to me?" She fumed at their dismissive behavior.
"I don't think that's necessary. We know how to do our job. I obviously didn't see anyone and I was here the whole time." The lanky guard answered with a roll of his eyes while the other one was busy unpacking the pudding package.
Addy was flabbergasted at his arrogance. "Of course, you didn't see anything. You were too busy gobbling pizza. You do know eating while on duty is restricted here right?"
His eyes flashed. "Yes I do! And I'm still doing that! What are you gonna do about that, huh?"
Furious, Addy swiped out her phone and snapped a picture. It captured the grease stained face of the lanky guard, the pizza on the floor and the bulky guard eyeing the pudding greedily. "Perfect!" She said at the result.
The guard's eyes widened in disbelief. "Delete that!"
"No. You listen to me first."
"I said delete that."
"No."
In rage the guard darted towards her forcing Addy to reel back. Her legs stumbled against the half ajar door causing her to lose her balance which unfortunately made her prized phone fly up in the night sky and land in the middle of a dense patch of bush with a thud.
(ノ｀Д´)ノ(ノ｀Д´)ノ(ノ｀Д´)ノ
The automatic lights snapped open as Prissy and Pat walked in.
Prissy yawned, tugging her uncle's shirt. "I'm sleepy. Let's finish baking the crackers tomorrow."
Pat nodded yawning as well.
"Can I have the pudding you baked me yesterday instead?" She asked with an expecting smile, knowing too well Pat won't be able to refuse. If it was her mom back home, she wouldn't even have dared to ask.
Pat laughed and ruffled her hair. "Fine, you cheeky monkey. But only one piece and brush your teeth!"
"You're the best!" She exclaimed as she hugged him before rushing to the kitchen to grab a bite.
"Slow down." Pat reminded as he followed her.
(ノ｀Д´)ノ(ノ｀Д´)ノ(ノ｀Д´)ノ
The clock in his bedroom showed exactly five 'o' clock. Prissy was still in her dreamland. Pat stood in his kitchen cleaning up the mess they had created earlier. He was one of those rare early-risers whose sleep cycle never got messed up. He always managed to wake up at the same time no matter how late he slept.
As he swept the counters squeaky clean, his eyes landed on the kitchen sink. Instinctively, his hands moved towards the aluminium fixture. He rotated it clockwise three times followed by three anti-clockwise rotation.
The sleek kitchen island skid to the right, revealing a secret set of stairs leading down into the darkness. Checking his surroundings with cautious eyes, Pat slowly stepped down the stairs.