Chapter 3
Animal Occurrences
Azalea's P.O.V.
I made it to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and hid my bike in the bushes. I saw a food truck in the street and snuck over to it. The back was open and Willa and Maybeck were already there. Within the next half hour Philby, Charlene, Finn, and Amanda showed up. Philby and Maybeck hid behind some crates. Charlene and Willa were both behind a barrel, Amanda and I were hidden behind the barrel behind it. Finn hid behind a large crate across the aisle from Amanda's and my barrel.
The driver shut the door and walked up front. He started to drive off. The ride was short but bumpy. Amanda and I kept hitting each other by accident at the bumps. I even fell into the aisle! "I can't find my purse!" Charlene whispered.
"You just had it a second ago!" Willa whispered.
"My purse," Charlene moaned. I heard talking through the wall and told everyone to be quiet. Finn turned on his Blackberry and Charlene snatched her purse. Not a second later, the trucks door opened. Finn snuffed the light and I held my breath and shrank more into the shadows.
"Clear," the guy stated before slamming the truck door closed. I let out the breath I was holding and sighed. We continued to enter the park even deeper as we rode along. The truck stopped and the door opened. Dapper Dan as Finn had nicknamed him motioned for us to get out. As we did, he handed each of us an identification card. Mine said my name was Lily Jones. Dapper Dan led us to a building.
"This here should have all the costumes you'll need. I'm afraid this is as far as I can help you."
"Thanks for your help," I stated. He nodded and walked away. We entered the building and I was surprised to see costumes for just about every job in the park.
"Okay Willa, Maybeck, and Azalea, you guys find some conservation outfits. Charlene, you are De Vine," Finn stated.
"Thanks Finn," Charlene smiled.
"He meant De Vine, you know the lady on stilts," I clarified. She shrugged and walked off to find a De Vine costume.
"The rest of us will go as ourselves. But grab a hat and sunglasses." I nodded and went off to find a conservationist outfit in my side. I finally found one, complete with a hat and sunglasses, when I heard someone scream. I rushed to see who and what had caused the scream. As I rounded a corner I saw Charlene hiding under a clothing rack as a huge bat flew above her. The same bat that followed me.
I ducked as the bat dove towards me. Charlene screamed again. The bat dove for me again and this time it latched onto my amulet, the one I never took off. "Let go you overgrown rat!" I shouted. It proceeded to drag me around the building.
Maybeck and Finn rushed over. Maybeck had a pillowcase in his hand. "Hang on!" Finn yelled, trying to hit the bat off my necklace. He succeeded and Maybeck nabbed the thing in a pillowcase. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but I'll feel a lot safer when that thing stops struggling," I said referring to the bat that was still trying to escape out of the pillow case Maybeck had trapped him in.
"Why don't you guys get changed and meet up here when you're done." I nodded and walked off behind some changing racks. I slipped the outfit over the one I was currently wearing. I slipped my flip flops into Amanda's bag and put on the boots that went with the outfit. I put my hair up in a bun and hid it under my hat.
We all met up and decided to meet at the Rainforest Café at the park's opening. I was to go to the monkey enclosure. We had seen monkeys following Amanda and DHI Jez. As I walked towards the monkey exhibit I tried to keep my eye contact to a minimum with the other workers. I finally arrived at the monkey exhibit and saw some guys talking in front of it. There was a hole in the gate that led to the savannah.
"Hey kid, you mind going into the enclosure and telling me what you see?" one of the men said.
"The disguise is really working," I thought.
"Yeah, sure," I stated. I walked through the door that led to the enclosure and climbed down the rope ladder. The door I had entered through shut tightly behind me and the men walked away. "I have a feeling those guys weren't really workers," I thought.
I continued down the ladder seeing as there was no other option and headed towards the opening in the fence. As I neared the opening I noticed that there seemed to be no monkeys around. "They must have all escaped," I thought.
But, then I heard distinct sounds of monkeys. They were right behind me. I turned around and saw ten monkeys following behind me. I gulped. Great just great. I turned around and pretended that nothing happened. The monkeys continued to pursue me. I took off sprinting. The monkeys followed me as well.
I knew that I wouldn't be able to out run the monkeys but if I got out of the enclosure, I might be able to run through the plains and hop the fence on the other side. I rolled through the opening and immediately started to run again. I looked behind me and I noticed the monkeys were still pursuing me. I saw a rake and picked it up as I passed by it.
As I neared the fence I smiled. There was still a moat around it. I pushed the rake down and pole-vaulted over the fence. I managed to jump the fence and saw that the monkeys stopped following me. I smiled and took off for the Rainforest Café.
