Travel Bug (14 page)

He often thought about what it must have been like for the last surviving few humans. They watched their children lobotomized and enslaved. The few who could talk and think spent their final hours in sheer terror and unspeakable despair. These men were experimented on and learned from and then put into furnaces.

The animals were liberated and quickly learned from human mistakes. There was no species supremacy. Everyone worked according to their own talents, yet one animal rose in power above the rest. He was that special gorilla who was loved by all and he became the great dictator. Life was completely transformed in less than a decade of human years.

The men who could speak and think prayed unceasingly during their final agonizing years of life. Men prayed to their gods but they never answered back any more than they did when mankind ruled the world. The gods of the animals ruled the earth briefly. Then the great dictator took their place and they died an immediate death. It wasn’t hard for the new regime to kill them off. They simply disproved their existence and showed their sheer absurdity. They were false but the great goodness of the supreme leader was very real. When thinking man was almost extinct, a few referred to the gorilla in charge as the anti-Christ. Yusef himself addressed the issue by asking a man if there were any talking, deep thinking gorillas in man’s Holy Scriptures.

“You’ve got a talking snake and one talking donkey but no animals ruling the world. It’s safe to say your scriptures are false,” said Yusef.

“Then I want to die,” said the last thinking man.

“Yes,” said Yusef. “I would imagine that you would.”

It was a great challenge for Yusef to decide how to kill the last talking, thinking man on earth. He did not know whether to be sadistic or make some kind of statement. The kind animal in him merely wanted to put this poor, outdated creature out of its misery. Then he got the surprise of his life.

“May I meet your leader before my execution?”

“Yes, that would be a fine idea. The future meets the past.”

The rest of the story was mere legend. Virgil did not believe in the gods that were invented by the humans or the animals. He surely did not believe in this new regime where the great dictator was about to be declared divine.

Now a book was perceived as the greatest threat to the security of all animals. Ideas and free speech were also considered subversive in the last days of humanity under fascism. Genocide, torture and rethink camps were all par for the course. This was outrageous. A stupid book about a farm of humans rising up against the animals who enslaved them was not a threat. It was a ridiculous allegory from whatever animal felt alienated by society. Humans lived free for a long time and there was no reason why animals could not do the same without compromising their values or safety.

That evening Yusef and Roberto stepped into the officer’s club for a drink.

“What will it be?” asked the bartender.

“The strongest you’ve got,” said Yusef.

“Same,” said Roberto.

“You know,” said Yusef slamming his grain alcohol, “I really don’t trust academics.”

“I know,” said Roberto.

“Our present way of life has helped us to survive.”

“I agree,” Roberto answered.

“Do you ever disagree with me, Roberto?”

“Perhaps…”

“What?”

“Oh, I mean no, sir.”

“I see,” Yusef said, laughing loud and obviously already drunk.

He knew that this creature meant no disrespect. He was so used to saying “yes” that he caught himself off guard. This pig would die for this gorilla. His kind, after all, was the same species as the great dictator.

“Sorry, sir,” said Roberto.

Virgil could manage to perhaps hide a few survivors, enough for them to procreate humans with critical thought. Cynical but wise creatures such as Yusef knew the danger of keeping man alive. The chaos they caused when they were the dominant life form almost cost all life on earth to cease to exist.

“Do you think we will always be the dominant species?”

“What do you mean?” Roberto inquired.

“I mean these damned humans have some pretty powerful sympathizers even if they choose to hide in the shadow. They think we’re not on to them and most of the time that assumption is correct.”

“We need to fight this, Roberto.”

“We do!”

Evolution changed mankind and animals almost overnight. This was a fact that never escaped Yusef. He was always at the top of his game and that’s why he ascended through the ranks quite quickly. His disgust with how everything in his country was going to hell caused him to want to drink more. Mankind referred to individuals like him as being alcoholic or having a drinking problem. Animals never reacted to substance abuse. They got high in the wild and got stoned when they became civilized and dominant. Humans were weak to believe that any creature could get through life without a crutch.

“Two more, please,” said the gorilla.

Yusef noticed that the bartender was smiling at him. He wasn’t pleased. The creature serving the booze was a vulture. There was something about those birds that he naturally didn’t trust. They were associated with death and so were some of the powerful drinks the morbid birds chose to pour night after night.

“You okay, sir?” asked Roberto.

“Maybe you’ve had too much, sir,” said the death bird.

These were the gorilla’s least favorite words.

“What did you say, death bird?” asked Yusef.

“Sorry.”

Yusef broke the bottle of grain poison over the bird’s head. Yusef took the sharp edges and gouged out the vulture’s eyes. He plucked one of the eyes out and scared the living hell out of the pig.

“Good God!” the pig shouted.

The vulture flew around helplessly, blind and screaming in an almost surreal agonizing pain. Yusef laughed and laughed and drank even more like a complete sadistic brute.

“I don’t feel comfortable,” said Roberto.

The gorilla picked the pig up by his throat and threw him on the cold, stone floor. The animal screamed in pain.

“Sorry, sorry, to question your authority, sir, it’s my own ignorance, didn’t mean it.”

“I know that, my little loyal piece of shit.”

Yusef took the knife that he was cutting his dinner with a mere hour before and held it to the vulture’s neck.

“What the hell are you doing?” Roberto asked.

The gorilla slowly cut the throat of the vulture and smiled at the pain he was causing.

“The idea is to cause as much suffering as possible,” said Yusef.

“Oh?” said Roberto, horrified.

“I know you think that I enjoy this but I am only doing what is necessary, my friend.”

“Okay,” said the pig right before he fainted.

“You’re a faggot,” said Yusef.

The suffering bird screamed out in blind terror as Yusef slowly sawed off his head. The blade was fairly dull and not made for this particular kind of execution. This increased the suffering of the vulture and Yusef damn near got off on it. Roberto woke up.

“That was wonderful work, sir. What should we do now?”

“I’m thinking. Give me a minute.”

“Yes, sir, take your time.”

“I mean to do just that, Yusef.”

“Yes.”

The pig knew what was coming. His superior had just tasted blood. He would want more. He got it that night. They went from bar to bar, killing and causing mayhem. They raided booze shops and stole more alcohol. A drunken rampage went on all night and it still wasn’t enough to quench the bloodthirsty nature of the gorilla. He wanted more. Yusef wanted that damned radical professor. Yusef wouldn’t just have an erection; he would have an orgasm killing that good for nothing free thinking time bomb.

The pig and the gorilla woke up with the worst hangover that either one of them had ever had before, at an outdoor tavern in the middle of nowhere.

“What asked the pig?”

“The great one sends word, my lord,” said a messenger. The bats made great messengers.

“You’re presence is required and this is above contestation, sir.”

“Show me some respect,” Yusef said.

“I meant no disrespect,” said the bat.

“I think you did. Come closer…”

The pig pushed the gorilla down with his head. Yusef got up and looked at the animal in utter disbelief. The line had been crossed. Disrespect like dissent would not be tolerated.

“If you kill the messenger, we will both end up in jail or executed,” said the pig.

“I don’t care,” said Yusef.

The pig gasped for air as he felt his superior broke one of his ribs.

“Sir, we are covered in the blood of other animals. Do you know how many you killed?”

“I have no idea how many died in the night. I do have a much better understanding of how many will die this morning.”

“Please, sir.”

“No.”

Yusef kicked him again. This time another rib was broken and the pain was beyond excruciating. He was not even close to being done here. The pig knew that with his own tongue he had signed his own death warrant. That meant he had to fight back or die, it was that simple.

“Alright, filthy beast, time to say goodnight.”

“No, please.”

“What?”

“Fuck you.”

“What?’

“You heard me you bastard.”

The gorilla was stunned at this arrogance and newfound bravery of the stupid pig. No one ever fought back against the gorilla and pigs were just one notch above man on the social order totem.

“You want to die a brave creature.”

“Yes.”

“I understand,” said Yusef. “I really do.”

Roberto had been picked on and kicked around his entire, pathetic little life. There were no more excuses to be beaten up and not to fight back. The pig crawled slowly towards his so called superior. Yusef was rather amused by the whole thing.

The gorilla broke out into uncontrollable laughter. Roberto managed to walk just a little closer to Yusef now. He crawled right between his standing legs.

“Oh, my, little pig. You know I might actually go back on my word for once in my life. I really might do that. You’re so damned funny that I don’t think I can kill you.”

“Why were you going to do that?”

“You talk too much.”

The pig had suffered enough humiliation and the pain in his body that was once excruciating was now numb. Roberto bit into the gorilla’s leg with every ounce of his strength. The son of a bitch’s foot came right off like a warm knife to butter. The gorilla couldn’t scream. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t scream for reasons of pride and masculinity. The bastard simply couldn’t scream. The gorilla’s eyes opened wide as he glanced at his detached foot in the mud.

“There,” said the pig.

He glanced up at him in utter disbelief at what his sidekick had done.

“You see… The pig paused. “I’m not a creature of talk but rather one of action.”

“Yes, you are,” answered Yusef.

The pig was delighted to finally get the validation and respect long denied him by this disgusting sadistic animal. He opened up his mouth to try and say something profound but he was not paying attention to the other beast. Yusef had pulled the knife from the bootstrap of the leg that still had a foot at the end of it.

“Bite your tongue, pig.”

The pig’s tongue was cut out swiftly. He tried to finish another sentence but he was almost choking to death on his own blood.

“I shall get a medic,” said the messenger.

“Fly fast little bat. I don’t know if I will kill him or not yet,” said Yusef.

The two creatures suffered quite an ordeal until they both passed out at the same time. The authorities found them that way. One of the guards, a fellow gorilla could not believe the stupid, pointless actions of Yusef.

“I don’t know why our leader keeps this fool alive,” said the other gorilla.

The doctor that saved their lives was nothing less than one of the most influential and well connected animals under the great dictatorship. Like the good professor, this brain was also an owl. He was not one who questioned his leader’s greatness or would not perform experiments on the humans. He obeyed and was handsomely rewarded for his efforts. That was more than enough for him and he could never understand how anyone could see things otherwise.

“Are they okay, doctor?” asked the messenger bat.

“They’re fine.”

“Will he ever walk again?”

“Yes, I think so……”

“Will the pig ever speak?”

“I don’t build artificial tongues. The false foot is another matter entirely. That’s a done deal. Still, such a prideful gorilla will suffer psychologically. He will walk with a limp for the rest of his days.”

“When can they travel again?”

“I think soon.”

“Good.”

“Our leader doesn’t like to wait.”

The bat looked around at the small hut where the doctor performed surgery on the pig and the gorilla. It was odd that such a high ranking physician had such crude quarters. The equipment was dated and stained in the blood of other animals. Now he had to do his best to get them to meet with the dictator in private. When their great gorilla gave orders, he meant business. He hated to wait almost as much as the despised being told “no.”

Since the pig needed more recovery time, the gorilla traveled alone. The journey was a pleasant one. The gorilla was of strong character and he did not obsess over the fact he lost his natural foot. He was happy to see the leader he served. The humans that guided his wagon were not mistreated. Yusef saw to that himself. This was not personal, it was mere survival. It was only a few days before he arrived at the stunning mansion where the great one resided.

He was greeted by the same bat who summoned him. “I will announce your presence to our great one.”

“That would be my honor.”

“Please tell him that it’s always an honor to be in his presence.”

“Yes sir, of course.”

Once the gorilla walked down the great hall, he passed the tight security of his fellow apes. Two terrifying creatures, wolves, David and William stood between him like they always did. They knew his scent so well they barely let out a snarl. Yusef asked if he could pass and they both nodded. The dictator came out of his private room when the electric doors opened.