Domestic

"Are we sure this is safe?" Zach jumped down from the cab of the truck and looked around nervously. He didn't see anyone. He looked empty as promised. But still, the whole place couldn't really be empty, could it? What if someone was late leaving? Someone made a trip to the bathroom or maybe had sat on a bench and fallen asleep. This seemed like a mistake now, in hindsight. Why hadn't he put a stop to this before they'd left the island?

Owen slammed the door and jumped down from the box van and headed towards the back. "It was theoretically just as safe now as it was before we left." He said as he climbed up on the back. He unlocked the door and pushed it up.

A loud squeal pierced the air seconds before Echo jumped out. She raced around the trunk and slid to a stop as Zach stepped in front of her. He lifted his hands. "Echo." He said her name steadily. "Easy. Stay." The raptor bounced and practically vibrated in place, but she didn't move.

The other raptors exited the van a bit more cautiously. Blue was out first and paused. She lifted her head and her gaze darted around. Delta and Charlie stepped out behind her and were likewise on high alert. Owen smiled as he walked towards them and thumped Blue on the tail. She whipped around and snapped at him and he just laughed.

Zach glared at him. "Stop teasing her!" He snapped. "She's right to be on guard. This is a bad idea!"

Owen shrugged. "Too late. Do you know how much work Simon had to do to arrange this?"

Zach shook his head. "No." He said softly.

Owen tilted his head. "Me neither. I was joking when I said it. Next thing I know, he's done planned it. We got 3 hours."

Zach breathed out and shook his head. "Fine. Ground rules. All of you!" He clapped his hands together and the other raptors fell in line around Echo. Zach waved his hand again and snapped his fingers. "O, you too."

Owen stared at him for a moment, thinking it a joke. When Zach snapped his fingers again and pointed, he frowned. "Seriously?"

"Line, Owen!"

Owen scrambled to stand beside Delta. She snapped at him and threw back her head. Her tongue lolled out and she looked like she was laughing. Owen slapped her side and glared at her. "Shut up!"

"Alright, listen up." Zach said loudly, standing in front of the line. "They've given us 3 hours. We will be loaded back on that van in 2." He said, pointing at it. "If any of you smell another human inside, you let Owen know immediately and stay away! They promised us it was empty but some people don't always listen." Zach pointedly looked at Owen. "No climbing the fences, no tapping on the glass, no antagonizing, no fighting, no running, and absolutely no eating anything inside!" He held up his fingers. "I mean it! All of you better be on your best behavior!"

All of the raptors nodded and after a moment, Owen did as well.

"Alright." Zach sighed and shook his head. "This is so ridiculous." He mumbled and turned back around towards the entrance. Letting the raptors off the island alone was crazy but this? This was downright insane. The second his back was turned, Echo zipped off towards the entrance. "Echo!" Zach hollered after her. "What did I just say?! No running!" He took off after her.

The remaining raptors all shared a look and Owen nodded. "I know, I know. Just try to behave so momma doesn't have a heart attack, okay? I kinda like him."

Echo let out a loud chirp as she squeezed inside the turnstile. She got stuck for a moment and looked back, over her shoulder. She let out a squeal that sounded almost panicky. Zach shook his head as he walked over. "Echo, that's not how you do it." She was pretty wedged in there. He pushed on one of the bars as she wiggled and after a moment, she tumbled out and fell onto the ground. Zach stepped through the turnstile the correct way and smiled. "That's what you get for running ahead." He said.

Owen and the other raptors had caught up. Owen went through first, showing them the mechanics of how to press the rotating bar. Blue squeezed in fine, as did Charlie. Delta jumped right over it and Owen laughed. Then he turned and looked at the group in turn. "Okay, where to first?"

Zach glanced around. It was odd to be standing there, right in the entrance with no one to greet them or hand out maps. He spied a map station right beside the ticket booth just a few feet away. He grabbed one and walked over towards Owen. He unfolded the map and held it out. Owen grabbed one end of it as the raptors all crowded in behind him to see. Zach pointed to the drawing of the gate. "We start here." He said. "It looks like if we follow this path…" He drug his finger along it. "It will loop around and we'll see everything."

Owen nodded his head slowly. He peered at the map closer for a moment. "This map sucks."

Zach snatched it back and quickly folded it up. "No one asked you, Navy man."

Owen let out a laugh and threw his arm around Zach. "Come on, girls. Let's go see the animals!"

Zach let Owen drag him along towards the path, following behind the raptors at a slower pace. "I can't believe Simon thought you were serious when you said you wanted to take them to the zoo."

Owen shrugged as he watched the raptors. "Delta said she wanted to see a monkey."

"There are monkeys in the jungle at home." Zach pointed out.

"I know." Owen nodded. "Just telling you what she said."

Zach rolled his eyes. "Are you sure she didn't say she wanted to eat a monkey?"

Owen let out a loud laugh. "That does sound more like Delta."

They spent the next few hours walking around the zoo, looking at all the animals. They stopped at each exhibit and Owen and Zach took turns reading all the plaques. Most of the animals came out of their various hiding places to see what was making all the weird noises. Most didn't have fear of the large reptiles because they didn't know any better. And all the girls, Echo included, were behaving and didn't touch the glass or fence. Owen and Zach also took turns taking pictures of the group. Delta got her chance to see plenty of different kinds of monkeys.

"Delta!" Zach snapped, attempting to push her out from directly under the monkey's net. "What did I JUST say? The sign says not to stand underneath! Monkey's throw poo!"

Echo fell in love with the giraffes. They had a baby and his name was Nemo. "No, you cannot take him home, Echo!" Owen said with a laugh.

Blue was most confused by the hippos. She lingered behind as the rest of the group left and just stared. Owen noticed she was missing and doubled back to find her. He leaned against her gently and nodded his head. They watched as a rather plump hippo lifted her head out of the water and yawned widely. "I know, Blue. They're very weird." She snorted out and shook her head as they walked away.

Charlie liked the fluffier animals, especially the tiny red pandas. She pressed her nose against the glass, momentarily forgetting the rules. One of them had come closer and stuck its own nose against the glass as well. It was too cute and the boys took a few dozen pictures before Zach waved her away.

In the end, the trip went better than Zach had feared. There wasn't a single incident and they were all back and loaded into the van without complaint in almost exactly 2 hours. No one had died, no raptor had escaped, and no animal had been eaten. Nothing was destroyed and the girls had all listened, even Echo. All in all, it was a good trip. Zach climbed back up into the cab of the van and sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "Oh my god." He breathed out, shaking his head.

Owen paused as he started the van. "What?" He asked, looking over.

"Nothing went wrong." Zach stated gravely.

Owen tilted his head. "That's a good thing, right?"

Zach shook his head. "No. Now they'll want to leave the island again."

Owen let out a laugh as he started the van and backed out of the parking space.