Chapter 110

The service area of the zoo had very few animals back here on any given day. It was mainly used for employee parking and administration, as well as storing tools, supplies, and vehicles. All that Nat had been back here for in her internship was to sign necessary paperwork when she started or messed anything up. They were meticulous about their records, especially since the whole stingray incident years prior. A number of complications adding together created a lot of issues, killing all but two of the rays that were housed inside. There was a lot of bad publicity following the zoo when that happened, and for years afterwards. Everything became meticulous and redundant, if only to prevent a second mass loss of life. Thankfully for Nat, she almost exclusively worked in the Canadian Wilds exhibit, dealing with animals that natively lived in the region. Bears, bighorn sheep, and otters were just some of the ones she worked with through her time there, but she ended up loving working with the wolves the most. That was what pushed her decision to work as a park ranger down in Waterton, where it was sitting just inside the main grey wolf habitat in southern Alberta.

As they moved through the parking lot, there seemed to be far more cracks in the pavement than Nat remembered. Regardless, it barely took a minute for them to go through the lot and get into the park. It had not been terribly long since the event, but the grass and bushes already started to look rather wild. Some swans and flamingoes still strutted about in the park, without any care. This was despite the actual look of the landscape itself. Dead bodies dotted the lawn, some animal and others human, with black stains in no small number. In fact, one of the swans seemed to have a bit of the black muck as well as blood stains dried onto them and did not care in the slightest. If anything, it displayed the marks as a threat to any other monsters or humans willing to come near. They were vicious birds, but had the strength to back it up. The fact that animals still walked around relieved them a little bit, but not enough to outweigh the dread that came from the scene.

The group of canines carried on down the path, avoiding the murderous bird. Thankfully, the building that they wanted was right beside them. The TransAlta Rainforest, home to a bunch of primates of varying degrees. Knowing that was where they would most likely find the gorillas, Natalie led them all down the path to the southern entrance of the building. First, they made their way past a bunch of snake exhibits, where all of the current residents seemed to be hibernating. Not able to see them and not help, Nat got out portions of meat that were a good size for each snake held there, before getting the glass panels stored inside the Soulscape. Thankfully snakes could go for months without food or water, but Nat wanted to make sure they had the option at least. Shannon, however, gave the reptiles a wide berth. She never had been good with anything scaly. She let out a great sigh of relief as they moved away from the slowly waking reptiles and deeper into the building.

As they got closer to the primate area, they found lines of ants making their way there as well. Curious, the group continued on to the enclosure. There, they found all of the ants going through cracks in the stone. While the stone had been fairly new, given the renovations that happened, it looked as if it had been there for decades. Realizing that it was similar to the power station and the monster portal, both Shannon and Nat ran forward to the pen. Looking over, they discovered a great many things. There was a pool of black gunk right below where the cracks in the wall were. As the ants funneled out, they made their way to rotting fruit that lay on the ground. However, handfuls of them were grabbed at a time, leaving only a few to carry back spoils to their nest. The gorillas that scooped them up threw them in their mouths and crunched down on them. And from the look of those apes, that might have been all they have been eating for the past while.

Since we had run up to the enclosure and were gasping for breath, it was not a surprise that the apes noticed us. What was a surprise was the lack of strength that they seemed to move with. Given that they were on average nine times stronger, the weakness they portrayed was worrying. And that was from the ones that were eating. Seeing the state they were in, Natalie and Shannon realized exactly what the gorillas needed saving from. If nothing changed, they would lose out to starvation in a matter of weeks, if not sooner. Loudly, the two broke into the service passageway, which was held shut by a now defunct electronic lock. The wolves followed them around, but only kept an eye on the surroundings. They made their way to the access door to the gorilla area, where Nat stopped moving. Shannon moved a few more steps before realizing, to turn around and watch as Nat filled up a trolley with a bunch of fruit and nuts from her Soulscape that she had gotten.

"I cannot help you with this Shannon. You have to win their trust, and get them to agree to join with you." Nat explained, taking a seat down in the keeper station by the door. "Gorillas are smart, so you can just talk to them as normal. But this food is so that they will not starve anytime soon. Please do not use it as a bartering item." Shannon just nodded, understanding what her partner was saying. From here on, it was all on her. Whether or not the gorillas bonded with her was dependent on how she acted when she walked through that door. Taking in a deep breath, she opened the door and wheeled the trolley out towards the malnourished apes.

Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!

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