The next day, I entered the panda exhibit and set down the supply case. I reached into my bag and pulled out a small plastic box full of fried chicken. Tao walked out of the cave and right up to me, looking at the box  then at me happily.

“For you.” I smiled and placed the box back in my bag. “I’ll give it to you later tonight so it doesn’t upset your panda stomach.”

Tao was clearly disappointed and sighed. It almost sounded like he was saying “fine”.

I chuckled and moved to refill a bamboo pile. Tao approached the other side and watched as I laid down fresh branches. As I lay each one down, he altered each one a little so that the branches were all laying parallel to each other in a nice set. I chuckled and moved around. A couple of the women pandas waddled over to munch on the stalks Tao and I laid down.

I smiled watching them. “They are so beautiful.”

Tao grunted loudly while looking right at me.

I grinned at turned to him. “What?”

He grunted again, shifting his feet.

“Are you jealous? Don’t worry, you’re beautiful too.” I reached my hand out to pet him, but he turned away.

“Oh come on.” I sighed a little. I couldn’t tell if he was genuinely jealous or just acting. After he didn’t make any noise, I scooted closer to him and knelt down beside him. “I’m sorry. Really. I do think you’re just as beautiful as them.”

Tao stayed silent. I gently rubbed his back.

I heard footsteps, but I ignored them. “I might even say you’re…more beautiful…”  I said quietly.

That made Tao glance in my direction. I kept my gaze down and started scratching behind his ears. After a moment, I felt him lean into my hand. I slowly looked at him and smiled. His expression was much softer.

A man cleared his throat. I looked up to see the man that visited us yesterday. He was still wearing a nice suit with a different tie.

“O-oh! Hello again.” I stood up quickly and bowed.

“Taking a break?”

“Yeah.”

“Is that so? Well, not to tell you how to do your job, but that spot over there needs cleaning.” He pointed to the corner of the exhibit closest to him.

Tao grunted softly. I could practically hear the swearing in his tone.

“Oh, did I?” I grabbed the supply case and moved closer to the area where the man pointed.

The man entered the habitat, looking around. I cursed quietly, realizing I forgot to lock the fence door.

“This sure is a lot to clean.”

“Yeah but I work fast so it gets done faster. I’m sorry, but non-staff aren’t allowed in the exhibit. Safety rule.”

“Trust me, I won’t touch a thing. I think you’re doing a great job around here. It would be a shame to lose a good worker like yourself.”

I finished scrubbing the area and turned around. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” I failed to sound polite.

“No.” The man walked right up to me, forcing me to back up against the fence.

“W-what are you doing?!”

The man pulled out a white cloth from his pants pocket and held it up to my nose and mouth. “Don’t try to scream or you’ll be sorry.”

I gasped a little and tensed up.

A loud moan sounded from behind us and the man suddenly screamed out in pain. Tao sunk his teeth into the man’s leg and held on hard.

“Kris!!” I yanked the cloth away from my mouth and ran to the fence door.

“LET ME GO!!” The man brought his foot up and kicked Tao in the face. Tao moaned squeakily and immediately let go, staggering backward.

“What is it??” Kris came running down the hall and appeared in front of the fence door.

“H-him!” I leaned against the fence and weakly pointed at the man who was shaking and staring at his bleeding leg.

The man turned to Kris outraged. “That beast just bit me!!”

“S-sir—“ Kris tried took a step forward.

“That’s it! I’ve had it with this establishment! I will see that it gets bulldozed to the ground by tomorrow if it kills me!”

“Sir, please just let me explain—“

The man limped out of the zoo and slammed the door behind him. The slamming sound echoed in my ears as my vision started to get blurry. I sunk to my knees and closed my eyes tightly.

“Are you alright?” Kris’s voice sounded a million years away.
 

“I…cloth…” I tried to point in a direction, but I ended up falling onto my stomach.

“Chloroform? I’m calling the police. The security cameras should have caught what happened!”

Hands grabbed me and pulled me up so my head was resting against the fence.

“Jill, how much did you breath in?”

My mouth couldn’t work properly. The only thing my blurred vision focused on was Tao and I slowly pointed at him.

“Stay put.”

I saw Kris’s blurry figure run over to Tao and then my head dropped and my eyes fluttered shut.