I leap over another mangled signpost with bent arrows. One way to Reptileville. One way to Lion Land.

I pass the Mangrove Swamp. A manatee pokes up her big head, draped with Spanish moss like a silly wig.

Two workers in yellow raincoats trot past me. One has a bloody bandage on his cheek.

I need to stop. Regroup. Cool it, Bob, I tell myself. I’m panicking, not taking in the right data. I try to blot out all the horrible smells, all the awful noise.

I concentrate, let my nose do the real work.

A whiff of something familiar. Gorilla? It has to be gorilla.

Full run now. I cut my back left paw on a shard of glass. Trip. Fall hard on my nose and cut it, too.

Dripping blood, I carry on. Find them. Find them. Find them.

A massive old oak lies on its side at the entrance to Gorilla World. Huge tangled roots grope into the air like frozen snakes.

And just beyond, where Ivan lives, is nothing but devastation.

help us!

The stone wall separating Gorilla World and Elephant Odyssey is gone. Pieces of both domains mingle: an elephant toy here, a gorilla nest there. Part of the indoor gorilla space has crumbled to the ground.

I scan the area where Ruby and her herd like to hang out. Nothing.

No gorillas, either.

Out of nowhere, the rain picks up, coming sideways, blinding me. The wind howls like a hurt dog.

This storm isn’t over, not by a long shot.

I leap over a pile of cement blocks, catch my hurt foot on something sharp, yelp, keep going.

“Ivan!” I call. “Ruby!”

Nothing.

I get to a slight rise, leap onto another overturned tree, and try to make sense of the damage.

Red and blue lights cut through the rain. Police, fire engines. Good. We need all the help we can get.

I take in several lungfuls of the hideous air. It’s too wet, too full of conflicting odors, a mishmash of scents I can’t decipher, especially with my busted nose.

The wind gathers speed, pushing at me with incredible force. Feels like it’ll tear my ears right off my sore noggin. I can barely stay upright.

Wind like that, storm wind, doesn’t carry scent. It obliterates it.

“Help! Help us!”

It’s a tiny, desperate voice.

Maybe even Ruby’s voice.

kudzoo

I pick my way through the debris, trying to lock on the sound. It ain’t easy.

“Please help us!”

Climbing over the remains of the wall, the one I was sitting on what seems like moments ago, I find myself at the bank of the moat.

“Ruby?” I call at the top of my lungs.