Y/n's POV:
I stretched out and sat at a bench near the lemur habitat.
"Might as well write down what I need to do for today."
I opened a small handbag I had found from the offices and dug my fingers through the many pieces of paper and tissues, not finding a pencil.
"Damn it"
I felt something brush up against my leg, so I looked down and saw a tiny brownish-orangish lemur with huge eyes holding my pencil.
"Awww!! Aren't you just the cutest thing ever!"
The tiny lemur looked up and gave a frightened expression.
"Hey there, buddy! I won't hurt you! Come here, little one!"
I reached down and gently grabbed the soft lemur, and cradled him like a baby.
He giggled and fiddled with the pencil.
"Hee hee! You are so warm! So snuggly!"
I said, getting the most adorable expression from the lemur.
"I like youuuuuu!"
The tiny lemur said.
"Oh! You can talk! Your voice is so cute!"
I pet him on the head and he continued to giggle.
After a few minutes, I could hear someone say,
"Where is that annoying little pest!? I need him to make me my royal smoothie. Maurice! Go find Mort!"
A voice came from the habitat behind me. I figured it was another zookeeper, but the zoo wasn't open yet.
I was caught off guard when a bigger lemur that was grey had jumped up onto my shoulder.
"Hello, human! I see you are holding my annoying royal servant. Please return him to the habitat at once."
I looked up at the lemur, his weight causing a huge difference in my balance.
"Get off of me."
I nudged him off of my shoulder, and he fell to the bench.
"How dare you speak to your king that way!"
I burst out laughing.
"King?! You're no king!"
He glared at me.
"Yes I am! I have a beautiful crown to prove I have kingly duties"
He pointed to the empty space on his head.
I smiled and said,
"What crown?"
He scoffs and says,
"This on--"
He puts his hand on his head and gasps.
"MAURICE!! MY CROWN! IT'S GONE!!"
He rushed back into his habitat.
The tiny lemur said,
"My name is Mort! I get kicked and neglected from King Julian! It's so exciting!"
I looked at his in sorrow.
"He kicks you?! Why?!"
I gently held on to Mort's tiny paws.
"Because I keep touching his royal feet! I love the feet!"
I felt slightly weirded out.
"Okay. . . Is there a reason why you touch his feet?"
He smiled and said,
"Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!"
I nodded and said,
"Noted. Thanks. But I don't think he needs to kick you. Does he not just tell you nicely to knock it off?"
He shakes his head.
"No, but I like you better! Can I stay with you forever?"
I chuckled and said,
"What?! I mean, I guess? I hope your house trained. Don't go shittin' on everything, okay?"
He giggles again.
"Don't worry! I'm potty trained!"
I laugh at the adorable lemur.
"That's my pencil. I need that for a thing I'm writing. Can I have it back, please?"
He nodded and handed it to me.
I smiled and said,
"Thank you, Mort"
I gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead and he brought his paws up to my face.
"You are very pretty!"
I scoff and say,
"Why does everyone say that about me?"
I set him down and he runs back to his habitat.
"Alright. First thing on the list is to--"
I was interrupted by that same voice.
"Visit my habitat and bask in my wonderful kingly glory!!"
I look over the bench and the same grey lemur is leaning on the fence, closest to the bench.
"What"
He puts his hand to his hip and says,
"You are to bask in my rightful glory and tell me I'm pretty"
He smiles and I just gave him a confused look.
The fuck? Why does this lemur want so much attention?
"Okay. You're pretty"
He giggles and says,
"Yay! She thinks I'm pretty!"
He slicks his hair back with his hand and says,
"You should come into my kingdom. I have room for a queen"
I sigh and grab my handbag and walk away, walking to Alex's exhibit.
"Hey, Alex!"
Alex turns his head from the corner of the habitat, where the other three animals were all conversing.
"Hey! What's up, Y/n?"
Before I can say anything, I looked around his habitat. Looks like him and his animal friends had cleaned up the jet plane crash. They also fixed the walls too, like nothing even happened.
"Wow! You guys did an amazing job cleaning up the jet crash. Nice job!"
He smiled.
"Well, we had some help. So, what was it that you needed?"
I put my hand to my face, covering view of my mouth like I'm gossiping.
"The lemur is annoying. The penguins hate me. How much longer until the zoo opens?"
He looked at the clock on the top of the gates.
"In about 10 minutes. The commissioner should be here any minute now."
I gave a questioning expression.
"The who?"
Alex gasped and went back to being a lion in his habitat.
"What the-"
A voice from behind me startled me.
"Ah! You must be the new recruit! I am the commissioner of this zoo"
I turn around and a man in a blue suit is awaiting my response.
"Yes, I am! Nice to meet you, sir"
He holds out a hand and I shake it.
"What's your name?"
He asks grabbing a notepad and pen.
"Julia Morris. I'll be watching the animals."
He nodded.
"Date of Birth?"
"[DOB]"
"Age?"
"24"
"Alright. How long will you be working here?"
I looked around.
I don't know how long I will stay in this city. I need to get to the facility though.
"Maybe a month. Two month"
He wrote more stuff down on his notepad.
"Alright. Even though it's a few minutes early, I'm going to open the gates. There will be field trip groups coming so be prepared to tell them about the animals here, okay?"
I nod.
"Gotcha"
He left and Alex came back.
"Hey, you'll do great!"
I smile.
"Thanks, Alex"
I run to the front gates with the commissioner and say,
"How many groups will be here today?"
He looks at his notepad.
"About 7 or 8"
That many?! Jesus that's a lot of kids.
"Gates opening in 3. . .2. . .1. . ."
He opened the gates and a bus pulled up at that exact moment.
Out of the bus came a stream of excited children.
"Be careful, children! You could get hurt!"
I said as the commissioner wished me luck and returning to his office.
I walked past the lemur habitat and the so called 'King' was dancing upon his throne for a group of kids.
I walked past the penguin habitat, and they were just smiling and waving.
I sat at the bench near the penguin habitat.
"Ugh. It was nice when it was quiet."
I was pulled out of my thoughts when a frisbee hit me in the forehead.
"Ow! What the-"
I looked over and a kid said,
"Hey! Loser! Tell me where the monkey habitat is! I wanna look at the monkeys!"
I walked up and said,
"Why, you looking for your parents?"
His sudden confident expression turned into a saddened one and started to bawl really loud.
He ran off and continued crying.
"Disrespectful bitch"
I whispered.
I am not good with kids.
I looked over at the penguins, and they all pointed to the entrance of the zoo.
"12 o clock! Retreat!"
I heard Skipper say.
They all went back into their little secret base.
"What?"
I looked over and saw a woman in black.
She wore a black hat, a black shirt, black pants, and black shoes. She had bright orange hair, and wore red lipstick.
She walked up to me and said,
"Name's Odessa Morris. S.O.A.P Agent. I got a report that one of our private jets had been crashed landed here and one survivor had been working here. Are you Julia Morris?"
I gasped in shock.
Finally! I can go to the facility!
"Yes. I'm Julia Morris. Nice to meet you Odessa."
She pulled out a badge.
"Please call me Agent M"
She put it away and grabbed my arm and pulled me to one of the backrooms.
"Look, I know your real name isn't Julia Morris. What's your real name?"
I looked around and said,
"It's Y/n L/n"
She pulled out her phone and called a number.
Once someone answered, she said,
"Yep. We've got her. The 4 pests are also here. We need to capture them and bring them with us."
I looked at her confused.
"Um. Excuse me, which 4 pests?"
She hung up the phone and said,
"I've been in a rivalry with 4 penguins in this zoo. I researched for years where they could've gone and you've lead me straight to them. Thank you."
I froze.
I know the penguins don't like or trust me very much, but I can't let this happen to them!
"Wait! You can't take them! They belong here! At the zoo!"
She pulled out a syringe and stabbed me in the neck.
"Shh. It will be better if you just comply."
I slowly lost consciousness and blacked out.