I walked into the tent, realising that the inside looked even bigger than what it did from the outside.
Behind me, Johnny kept pushing me in. I wasn't fully recovered from whatever he did to me, so I couldn't fight back much against him.
"Hello!" a woman yelled from above before coming down in a trapeze. She gracefully held to it with her legs and, with a beautiful pirouette in the air, she landed right in front of me.
"Welcome! Want me to help you unpack?" she shouted in excitement while giving me a long hug. I stood there completely paralyzed, not knowing what to do next.
"Come on, Aly. At least let the kid settle in before doing that" Johnny sighed while walking past us and patting her shoulder. The woman nodded and broke the hug while looking down with embarrassment. "Nice to meet you" she said in a low tone before holding up her hand.
I reciprocated the gesture, holding her hand and stretching it as I tried to give her the best smile I could.
In that awkward moment, the ringmaster appeared behind me and pushed me gently, telling me to keep going inside of the tent.
Aly said goodbye to me and quickly escalated back to her post, preparing herself to practice on her tricks again. "Oh, don't mind Alyson too much" Johnny said while walking me towards another member of the circus. "She's just really friendly and adores giving love to people" he then added.
We walked to an improvised "nest" made with pillows, mattresses and bed sheets, and inside of it there was a person sleeping under a blanket, accompanied by some snoring bulges beside them.
Johnny gave a loud scream, waking up all of them. As they arose from their slumber, I let out a noticeable gasp as I saw what the "bulges were".
A man emerged from the blanket, covering himself with it while hugging the "bulges" by his side. "Good morning, Sally. Good morning, Tom. Goooood morning, Tina…" the man said while counting all of the animals that were sleeping with him.
Big felines appeared behind him, coming from under the bed sheets and approaching the man as he called out their names.
Johnny hit me with his elbow, saying "Pretty impressive, right?" as we watched all of those big felines cuddling with the person in front of us.
Out of nowhere, a tiger jumped on top of the ringmaster, and as it did that, my heart stopped beating. I lowered my gaze, expecting a bloodbath at my feet, but the scene was quite different from what I imagined.
Johnny laughed as the animal licked him, and he responded by tickling it. It was like watching a pet greeting its owner who was away for a long time.
"You must be the new guy" said a female voice behind me. My head turned around to face her, but I had to lower my eyes again so I could see her.
"Hello, big man" I was greeted by a cheerful teenager who was quickly scolded by her father. "Fiona! Leave the poor guy alone!" the man hugging the animals said while calling her over with his hand.
He hugged her and put her over his shoulder, waving his hand at me and greeting me with a smile. "Nice to meet you! I'm Bill, and this lady here is Fiona" he said as he tickled his daughter.
The big felines cuddled and rubbed themselves against the man as he argued with the girl, who was telling him to let her greet me properly. She looked at me while speaking with her father, but after seeing that my eyes were pointing at her, she quickly withdrew her gaze and blushed while hiding behind his father's head.
"Popular with the ladies, huh?" Johnny scoffed while contemplating my shoes. "Oh my, are these authentic?" he asked while tracing patterns on my feet.
At that moment, I felt something poking on my back. I thought it was Johnny at first, but since he was beneath me, then it was impossible for him to touch my back.
I looked behind me, being greeted by a tiger with a big smile. My feet tripped against Johnny when the animal roared, causing me to fall in the nest.
All of the animals approached me when I got into their territory, so I thought that my time had come. I closed my eyes, embracing the death that was yet to come, but after a few seconds I opened my eyes, realising that nothing happened.
Bill scattered the felines above me, helping me up and patting my shoulder. He then held my hand and placed it close to the animals' snouts while saying "You have to show them that you don't fear them if you want them to trust you".
A lioness opened her mouth and tried to bite me, but Fiona quickly pulled her ear and reprimanded her. "Mia! Behave yourself! We do not bite newcomers!" the girl said before facing me. "By the way, what's your name, new guy?" she asked and blushed right after.
I raised my eyebrow at her question, staring at her cheeks while they turned red. She quickly looked down, moving her eyes away from me and focusing on petting the animal beside her. "I'm just asking so we get to know each other… But not in a weird way!" she claimed, stuttering.
Her dad looked at his child struggling and "translated" for me. "What she means is 'Welcome. May I know your name'?" Bill said while messing up Fiona's blonde hair.
I gave off a weird, but warm smile, introducing myself for them. Johnny sprang up when he heard it, laughing loudly while supporting himself on Bill's shoulder.
"Maaaann… I totally forgot about asking your name!" he shouted as he laughed. "So your name is Glasgow, right?" he then asked once he had finished laughing.
"It's a really pretty name…" Fiona whispered while tugging on my hoodie.
Everyone started to talk to me, and I got overwhelmed as I had to interact with every one of them.
However, a tall woman emerged from beneath me and hugged me, pressing me against her chest while kissing my forehead. "All of you! Give this kid some space or you'll have to face off against me!" she claimed while sending the people around me away.
They all looked at the floor as she spoke, nodding in fear as she scolded them. Was Johnny lying to me? Maybe that woman was the boss instead of him?
"Ok, sis, we get it" Johnny shouted while also emerging from beneath me. He placed himself between the woman and me and unwrapped her arms from my body, telling her to leave me alone and dragging me out of the "crowd". "Nice to meet you, Glasgow!" Bill's daughter shouted as I got pulled away by Johnny.
Once we were away from the nest, he sighed and then laughed maniacally. He covered his face and told me to wait one second while he finished laughing.
After he was done, he put his hand on my shoulder and said "You're fucking awesome, Glasgow! You met and socialized with almost all of your coworkers right after you got here". Johnny then took a pause, inhaling all the air he could and between laughs he screamed "And you barely said a word! Damn, boy that's motherfucking charisma right there!"
My face went from neutral to confused. Coworkers? Why was he saying that?
I know that he told me that I was the new recruit, but how did everyone know about that? Or rather, when did I accept to be the new recruit?
Johnny started to frantically list all of the activities that I could perform in his circus, but before he could finish, I interrupted him, asking why he wanted me there.
"Isn't it obvious, mate?" he asked, changing his accent to an australian one. "We lack a pretty face 'round 'ere. How we gon' 'ttract the ladies without ya'?" he then added.
I looked at him in disbelief. So they just needed me there so women would watch them?
It's the fucking end of the world! How were they expecting to even get public if most of the population was dead?!
"Glasgow! You listenin', mate?" Johnny said while snapping his fingers in front of me.
I moved him away from me, but right as I tried to turn around and walk away, he appeared on my face. "Please don't leave! I've been looking for someone like you for a long time!"
I stopped moving when I heard him. Looking for a long time? It's been almost more than a month since the world went to shit, what was he talking about?
"Elaborate" I said while placing my hand over Axie menacingly. He gulped when he saw me and stuttered before speaking. "I'm sure I have all the questions you have. And I'm also sure that I have what you're looking for!" he yelled while kneeling and hugging my legs. "If you promise not to leave, then I'll give everything that you ask me for." he cried out while tears fell down from his eyes.
My eyes rolled down as I looked at him. His pathetic expression, however, made me sympathetic to him.
To calm him down (and to prevent any stains on my clothes), I helped him up and gave him my hand. "Fine. I'll stay…" I sighed while stretching his hand.
His face made a sudden change from desperate to an excited one. He rushed to hold my hand, but I quickly withdrew it. "I'll stay on the condition that you give me what I ask for…" I said while putting my hand back down.
Johnny nodded and stretched my hand quickly, crying from excitement instead of sadness this time. "Thank you! Thank you, Glasgow!" he shouted while he wiped his tears off with his sleeve.
"Does that mean he stays here?" I heard as someone whispered from behind me. "I think so" someone else said in a low voice.
I turned around, only to be met with Johnny's sister, Alysson, Fiona and Bill and his animals. They all rushed to hug me, causing me to fall down. As they made a pile on top of me, they started to cry out the words "Welcome to the family!" collectively.
Johnny looked at me struggling to get out of their "collective hug" and laughed. "Hah, and you still have to meet two more people" he claimed before joining the pile and shouting along with them.