Day 701

The zoo had grown since the last time he was there, they'd added sections themed on koi fish, sun bears and eight different kinds of reptile among many others. Even during school days the whole place was packed full of shrieking children and tired adults, all clamouring around glass walls trying to see what new things the zoo had brought in this month.

He'd come here on a whim, with enough money and the day off from work he revisited the place he so fondly remembered in his childhood memories. Even back then it took most of a day to see the entire zoo, including brief stops for rest and play in the themed parks dotted about the place. Since then those parks had been revamped and expanded, just like almost everything else.With monthly additions there was always some new enclosure being built, some new pathway being paved and painted with a yellow line to differentiate it from the blue line Staff Only walkways.

Despite his initial difficulties in sticking to the yellow line areas (the blue was mostly faded in all the areas yet somehow everyone else seemed to know not to go there?) and general labyrinthine nature of the zoo, he'd managed to work his way down to the current end zone which contained a few warthogs and a pygmy hippo called Lola.

It had taken him almost eight hours in total, including brief rest stops along the multitude of benches scattered about the steep paths. Closing time was in twenty minutes and he had quite a way to walk to get to the entrance again. Along the way he noticed a new path he hadn't gone down before, its yellow line glistening as if it was freshly painted and leading down a series of glass windows made to look like they were holes in a cave (albeit a plastic cave).

The exhibits were some new kind of monkey called Rantering's Stitch Ape. According to the information boards they originated in a remote region of Russia and the markings on their faces resembled rough stitching. He peered into the dimly lit windows, trying to see these apes that were apparently eight feet tall when fully stretched but he saw only a thin layer of straw on the floor and claw marks on the walls.

Moving round the corner from the cave-based windows he found himself beside an enormous glass wall showing their main enclosure, instead of their apparent bedding area. It was made to resemble a winter wasteland with white dirt (or was it chalk?), sparse clusters of spruce trees and short grass all layered around the zoo's usual steeply sloped enclosure setting (with the usual wooden activity beams and ropes, of course).

He could hear them breathing, loud and deep panting from somewhere in the gloomy enclosure though the natural light was fading and he could only see a cluster of large black fur. The remnants of their food lay scattered along one side and mostly consisted of tough looking leaves and small chunks of dried meat.

While he was distracted studying their enclosure he failed to notice one large figure break away from the group and quietly make their way over to him, patiently waiting right beside him until it grew bored and slammed its fist against the glass barrier. He jolted and fell back, terrified and intrigued in equal measure. The Stitch Ape crouched down to mimic him.

Its face looked as though someone had roughly cut out ans sewn a human face on top of an ape's using the thickest thread they could find. It didn't help that the fur around its face was matted and glistening with some kind of thick fluid that gradually dripped down its body. The cluster of Stitch Apes all looked very much the same, he saw as they crowded around the window behind which he was still half laying on the floor, terrified and very much alone.

Gathering his nerves he stood up and they all copied him, right down to brushing the dirt off and pretending to adjust their coats. They continued to follow him all along the length of the glass window, waving as they reached the end of their enclosure.

Eventually the chills left his body as he found the main path and headed up hill once more, occasionally seeing a small family or group of people heading in roughly the same direction as him, petering off every now and then to see something they'd somehow missed on the way down. It took him a fair while to notice what they'd all been noticing.

The Stitch Ape's were in every enclosure, often cradling the mutilated bodies of whatever had been there previously or finishing it off. The metallic scent of blood filled the air as they slaughtered every caged creature, replacing it briefly before moving on. He'd never noticed them escaping from their own area, there was nothing to indicate they could and yet there they were playing with the broken body of a lion, its mouth caked in blood.

He wondered why nobody was rushing to the exit or panicking. Stopping a group of teens in front of him he asked how they were so calm and they told him that the information boards clearly stated the Stitch apes only reacted to fear. The group took him into their close circle and helped him remain calm as they approached the final hurdle before the gift shop and exit - the unavoidable butterfly walk-through.

As they swung the doors open he heard the now familiar sound of loud, deep panting and the smell of blood became overwhelming. Dark furry shapes continued to follow them closely from the shadowy areas until they reached the gift shop, skittering behind rows of stuffed animals, almost laughing at them,

As he finally reached his car he looked back one last time to see several Stitch Apes at the zoo entrance, holding uniformed corpses and making them wave.