The Child Zoo

Chapter 12

"Here are your vitamins, take one in the morning and one at night. These are for the anxiety, take one whenever you feel like you are going to have a panic attack. These are to get rid of the insomnia, take one before you go to bed. And these should help with the morning sickness." I take all the bottles of pills from the doctor and and give her a quick "thanks".

I've been recovering in the hospital wing of the zoo for the past three weeks after I woke up from being out for three days straight. My wound has fully healed now so I can return to the zoo. Great. The time I've spent away from it all, along with seeing the baby has helped snap me out of my fog, even if I can't get rid of the scars on my soul.

Amanda comes and stands in the doorway with a slight smile on her face. "Glad to see you're looking better." I mutter a yea before putting all of the pills into a pouch with my name on it and taking them with me. Amanda is in charge of monitoring "situations" like mine and also acts as some sort of therapist. For some reason the zoo tries to act like they care about their captives mental health. How mentally stable can you be spending years of your life in a zoo built for humans?

"Before I take you back to the zoo you have a new routine that will replace your old one. I roll my eyes despite my curiosity as I follow Amanda down the hall to a metal door. "Via open; this is as far as I go kid" she nods at me before walking off down the hall. I walk into the room the door shutting behind me. The inside is dim and dark setting and I am met with guards who take me into a back part of the room.

For the first time since I got here the collar is removed from my neck and taken away. I am left in a room with a bathtub and four women who seem to be some type of hand maidens. Catching the message I strip of my clothes and get into the bubble bath which feels amazing. Who knew being pregnant by rape had this many advantages. (Note the sarcasm)

The women gently wash my body and hair as I relax into the tub which is a stark difference from the rough assault of the shower chambers. Once I'm finished I am handed a towel and fresh clothes if you can even call them that. Escorted by guards I make my way to the zoo entrance as it is already zoo hours.

Taking a deep breath I walk through the zoo doors and take a look around. People bustle around and for once all eyes aren't on me. Of course there are still whispers and eyes but I'm not the main attraction. Since they've talked about me enough for the past two months I must be old news.

Walking around in the distance I notice Taylor and that girl sitting crisscross next to each other talking. Building up the motivation I make my way towards them. "Hi." Both of them look up at me and for a few moments Taylor is speechless. "Uh hi!" She says while still looking at me awkwardly.

"Who is this?" The girl gives me a skeptical glance slightly narrowing her eyes at me. "Oh! This is Serendipity, Serendipity this is Angelica." She turns her attention to the girl now glaring at me passionately. "Serendipity has been my best friend since like forever but don't worry she's straight." She mutters the last part to Angelica and I pretend not to hear it.

Angelica's whole demeanor changes and she gives me a bright smile. "Sit sit! Any friend of Taylor's is a friend of mine!" Following her instruction I sit crisscrossed in front of them on the ground. "Care to explain why I haven't met your best friend Taylor?" Angelica says in a mock hurt accusation.

Taylor scratches the back of her neck. "Well she was... going through some stuff..." she trails off, her face holds grave guilt as she looks at me. Since I'm sure by now Angelica has heard the whispers of the pregnant girl but just doesn't know it's me I decide to tell her.

"I'm pregnant." I look down closing my eyes to block out the memories. Angelica seems to be searching through her mind with her mouth partly open. "So all of the rumors were true." I shake my head "I'm sure not all of them."

Clearing my throat I decide to change the mood. "So when were you going to tell me you're gay." I say looking at Taylor. They both look at me like they all of a sudden went stupid. "What are you talking about?" Taylor says trying to play the innocent act, but I see right through her bullshit. I roll my eyes and give them my best "really" face. "I saw you two that day in the vines. Angelica starts to choke on her own spit and Taylor rapidly blinks her eyes.

After Angelica straightens herself out (no pun intended) she looks at Taylor who nods her head. "Well yea Taylor is my girlfriend." I raise my eyebrows waiting for a proper explanation to their secrecy, more specifically Taylors secrecy. "I wanted to keep it on the down low Sen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner I just didn't know how to come out with it then with everything that happened I just-" I cut her off needing no further explanation.

"I'm fine with you guys being together, just a little upset you never told me about you being gay before, but I understand." Taylor nods still looking a little apologetic in her eyes. After that Angelica breaks the silence. "So I think this formally calls for a three way story time."

We then go on the share our story of how we got here, our lives before, and just any story in particular we want to tell. Angelica tells us she's been here since she was ten years old. Before she came she was an orphan who hung around with a group of rowdy street girls and they were basically her family. She goes on about her many adventures in the streets with them as they avoided the catchings.

She said that one day they were running from a group of guards after steeling food out of a store when Angelica's foot got caught on the ground. This caused her to trip and fall and that's when they captured her and brought her here. The look in Angelica's eyes is longing when she talks about the girls. I can tell she misses them dearly.

By the time we all finish telling our stories it is time for the zoo to close. Taylor and I say goodbye to Angelica as she lives in a different center. Taylor and Angelica stare at each other for a few more moments before breaking away. They're so cute.

When we are led to our activity center I make my way toward the sleeping quarters. This baby really makes me tired. Taylor follows and before I am all the way up to my bunk she speaks. "You know I'm really glad we're talking again." I pause before taking in a deep breath pushing memories way down. "Yea. Me too."

I climb up my bunk and sit crisscross on the bed. Removing the bag that contains my pills from around my waist I dump them all out in front of me. Picking up the green bottle that says VITAMINS in bold letters, I place my thumb on the top. It scans my fingerprint before a pill pops out and a red 1 is displayed on the digitalized screen on the front.

The bottles only open to my thumb print and only allow a certain amount of pills out for a day. This is to keep patients from overdosing. My vitamins allow two extractions a day. My anxiety pills 2, morning sickness 1, and insomnia 1. I take the green vitamin before repeating the process with my blue insomnia pills. It's an immediate reaction after taking the pill and I soon drift into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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September 3rd 2112
9/3/2112

Sorry it took me so long to update, had writers block and wasn't motivated enough to give my best. :)