Chased to another World (By RAWN)
Chapter 6: The Nightwatchman
"You sure that you will be alright all by yourself tonight?" Emily asked concerned while putting on her jacket, readying herself to leave.
Jed had searched for the emerald without success, he hadn`t looked in the pond yet, so he promised to do that tomorrow before he had left for the day an hour ago.
"I can take care of myself, done so for years, besides, I`m not exactly alone. There`s like a hundred animals here to keep me company" the blue anthropomorphic
hedgehog assured her.
She still felt like she was leaving a child in a big park full of spooky noises made from the large variety of different beasts to spend the night with.
The vet bit her lip to stop herself from repeating her last question "Well…take care then, and if you get hungry there`s some fruit and meat in the fridge in the room
straight down the hall" she informed him instead, not really sure what kind of diet this alien creature had. Judging by his teeth though, he was most likely
omnivorous, she thought.
However, the thought that he might be a little bit more picky than to eat food prepared for the zoo`s permanent inhabitants, didn`t strike her as she waved goodbye
and left her little animalistic friend to fend for himself.
Sonic had been too occupied talking to his two new friends and exploring the zoo in all secrecy whenever both of them where occupied with their work, to find the
time to eat anything, and his stomach were now giving him a hearable complaint.
He therefor didn`t hesitate to zoom down the hall and into the mentioned room the moment Emily had closed the door after her.
The fridge had two doors. He opened one of them and wrinkled his nose at the sight that met him. Raw frozen meat was stacked in every shelf, and he was pretty
sure he had caught a glimpse of the tip of a rat tail from the top shelf when he slammed the door shut.
Some sudden movements from a glass tank caught his attention. He took a closer look.
"Crickets?" he thought with a questioningly frown. Somehow he got a sneaking suspicion that this room wasn`t exactly the staff`s lunch room…
Even though his appetite had decreased by several degrees by now, he hesitantly, while holding his breath, opened the other door and peeked inside.
Luckily, this was the fridge containing fruit.
Sighing in relief, he helped himself with an apple and some grapes, and left the room to consume this light meal while taking a stroll around the park. He also brought
along a flashlight since it was quite dark at this hour, as he so painfully had experienced last night.
He decided to take a round to check on every creature in the zoo, since he was supposed to guard them.
Everything from giraffes, crocodiles, zebras, lemurs, exotic looking birds, a polar bear, gorillas, and all the other inhabitants of the zoo was
briefly visited until he halted in front of the tigers den.
"Hey Melody, sorry to hear about your cubs, and no hard feelings from our last encounter, you wouldn't happen to have seen a green rock lying around have you?"
The striped cat only looked at him with sad eyes, unable to understand his words, but maybe sensing what lay behind some of them. Then she made a low predatory
growl aimed at something behind him.
He turned his attention toward whatever had angered her.
The top of a ladder had appeared on the wall they were looking at.
"Looks like the culprits returned after all"