The Danville Zoo, which rested in the middle of the large park in the center of the city, was everything that a normal zoo was supposed to be. There were animals, overpriced concessions, questionable bathrooms and the occasional picnic table. The only difference between the Danville Zoo and other zoos like it was that it was operated almost exclusively by the OWCA. Every single employee, all of whom were humans, were agents of the organization, disguised as zookeepers, animal specialists and tour guides. Their main functions, when not operating as a zoo for the public, were training recruits and providing adequate environments for mating of the various species.
One of the zoo's inhabitants, Jean-Baptiste, an ocelot, was impatiently pacing on a large rock that rested in the middle of his enclosure, which consisted of makeshift jungle foliage, a small watering hole and a small cave, which was located in the back half of the area.
"What is taking them so long?" Baptiste thought to himself, "They should already be done by now! What could be wrong?"
Baptiste shook his head, trying not to think of something else other than Josephine, who was currently with the zookeepers going through the extensive and agonizing process of labor. Looking out at the visitors, the ocelot's eyes fell upon Pinky the Chihuahua, with him was Isabella, Buford and Baljeet.
"Shakes!" Baptiste yelled, calling Pinky by his pet name, "Shakes!"
Pinky casually looked Baptiste's way, at the first opportunity, when Isabella and the others were distracted by the elephant exhibit, Pinky made his way over to the enclosure, moving as fast as his legs would allow.
"Que paso?" Pinky asked, reverting to his native Spanish.
Baptiste, who was Portuguese originally, had some difficult understanding the dog at the moment, too concerned with his wife to switch from English.
"Ingles por vor!" Baptiste continued his tone of voice remaining unchanged, "Muy importante!"
Pinky nodded and motioned for him to continue, at the same time looking over his shoulder to check for Isabella, who had moved on to the hippo exhibit. Buford meanwhile was busy throwing Baljeet into the elephant enclosure. The elephants, for no particular reason other than to have some fun, decided to chase Baljeet, who immediately began running for his life in a never ending circle, screaming the entire time. Pinky and Baptiste however, paid this no mind and continued as if nothing was happening.
"Something wrong" Jean-Baptiste said worriedly, "They should be done by now. They've been in there ever since last night and they refuse to let me see her."
Pinky nodded, for he had heard about Josephine's delivery, "Jean listen to me" he began sternly, "I need you to calm down okay? Everything's going to be fine."
Jean-Baptiste swallowed hard, Pinky's words were of no comfort, for it still didn't change the fact that he knew nothing of Josephine's condition, his attempts at communicating with the zookeepers being unsuccessful.
"What am I going to do?" Baptiste continued, "The suspense is killing me Senor, I don't know how much more I can take!"
Pinky rolled his eyes, for Baptiste was slowing becoming hysterical.
"Get a hold of yourself man!" Pinky screamed "You're about to be a father. So it's time to strap down, suck in that gut of yours and stand tall."
Pinky then began speaking as if he were J. B. Smoove, every other word unnecessarily over exaggerated in an attempt for emphasis.
"It's time for you to be a leader, a man so to speak. To be the alpha male that you were born to be! Now I have one question for you-are you a man or a mouse?"
"Neither" Baptiste replied knowingly, "I'm an ocelot."
Pinky rolled his eyes, forgetting that Baptiste was terrible when it came to expressions. He immediately tried a different approach, deciding to use his idol as an example.
"You what Perry would do?" Pinky began once more, "If he were here he wouldn't sit around and wait. I bet you Perry would march in that cave and see Josephine. Who cares what the zookeepers say?"
Baptiste shook his head reluctantly, "You have no idea how this place works do you? Absolutely everything is regulated by your stupid organization. I'm completely powerless here!"
Pinky rolled his eyes and sighed. Putting his paws in his mouth and letting out a whistle, Pinky summoned Isabella, Buford and a slightly wounded Baljeet, all of whom came from their respective areas.
"What's the situation Pinky?" Isabella asked eagerly
Baptiste gave a glaring look Pinky's direction, "You told them?" he whispered. Pinky gave a slight nod in response.
"Isabella my dear" Pinky began, this time being much more formal, "I have a special task for you..."
Five Minutes Later
Isabella ran towards the nearest zookeeper she could find, finding herself in the flamingo habitat, a few pens to the right of the ocelots.
"Help" she cried, "Something's wrong with one of the ocelots, I think it's dying!"
Without even so much as questioning her, the zookeeper ran into the ocelot enclosure, to find a very convincing Jean-Baptiste covered in what appeared to be blood, clutching his chest with his right paw and breathing sporadically.
"Holy Mother of God" the zookeeper exclaimed as she knelt down next to Baptiste, checking his pulse and vitals, "We've got a code red. Male ocelot needs immediate medical attention, double time!"
Within seconds a medical team was brought in, stretcher and defibrillator included. After assessing the situation, the team carried Baptiste into the cave, setting him down right next to Josephine. Two of the doctors, Buford and Baljeet in disguise, stayed behind, telling the others to go about their other business. As the team took their leave, Baptiste rolled carefully on his side, making sure to keep up the rouse and faced his wife.
"Just hang in there" Baptiste said encouragingly, "It'll all be over soon."
Josephine, who was smiling from ear to ear at seeing Baptiste, nodded in compliance and began contracting.
"I just wish Heinz were here to see this" Josephine declared, rather sadly, "He was such a good boy."
Baptiste nodded, remembering his time with Heinz, not regretting a single moment of it. "It was better this way" he replied, "Heinz needs to be with his own kind. He can't be bothered with us."
Josephine huffed annoyingly, "Still" she continued, "The least he could do is stop by every once in a while. We haven't seen him in years Jean, what if he's changed?"
Baptiste shook his head, refusing to think about the possibility, "All we can do is hope that we raised him right. As a parent it should be enough to see your child succeed, in whatever he does, no matter what. Does it hurt that he never comes around? Of course it does. But that doesn't mean he doesn't love us any less."
Josephine was in too much pain to continue; Baptiste gave a grateful sigh and turned towards Buford and Baljeet.
"Thank you boys for doing this" the ocelot exclaimed, "You risked a lot today, I will find a way to repay you for what you've given me."
"It wasn't just us sir" Baljeet corrected, "Isabella risked a lot too, even more so. And let's not forget the dog."
Baptiste nodded and gave a subtle smile, "I shall repay them as well. My honor as an ocelot demands it...Now tell me friends, how did you come to know of the OWCA and what it really is?"
Baljeet slowly backed away, refusing to answer, Buford remained silent.
"I see" the ocelot continued, "You will not say. No doubt Pinky made you all swear an oath of secrecy, to never tell a living soul about what he really is, about what Perry really is."
Baljeet nodded in agreement, "We swore it with our lives" he answered, "It is a secret we take to our graves."
Baptiste shook his head in denial. "Don't" he exclaimed, "You must let the truth be known. We cannot continue to exist in these conditions. We are not experiments; we are animals and deserve to be treated as such."
Buford rolled his eyes," Take it up with PETA" Buford declared, "Leave us out of your problems."
Baptiste huffed, "PETA is nothing but a bunch of crazy extremists. The consensus, at least among animal circles, is that they believe that we have the same rights that humans do. We're animals and even we know that idea is just as ridiculous as Scientology is an accepted religion. Besides, the OWCA, the wonderful and glorious organization that runs this facility, is strongly against their beliefs."
"How ironic can you get?" Buford asked rhetorically
"It doesn't get much more ironic than that" Baptiste replied, "Now you best get going before those idiots back there wise up and send in security."
Buford and Baljeet nodded and headed out without another word, Baptiste meanwhile, laid his head gently next to Josephine's, seeking comfort and affection where he knew none would be given until after the ordeal was over.
