The massive habitat towered over me as I lumbered slowly towards the railing. I drew a deep breath, ignoring the ache in my backside. Despite my trepidation, I needed to get a look at it from the outside. It would be my first and only chance to see it from this angle. After all, I would be living here, and gorillas usually didn’t take a step outside of their pens.
It was pretty impressive, even by my human standard of living. The gorilla family that lived here before was pretty happy, at least by gorilla standards. I have no idea what that would mean for me. The vultures running the zoo were probably trying to hype it up to me when I’d applied before. All they wanted was my fucking money. Typical.
“We have cleaned it out and expertly prepared it for your arrival. I think you’ll find we did a fantastic job, especially given the time constraints,” The director said, seemingly sure of himself. It was hard for me to tell, with the visor over his face.
I did take a good look over the place for cleanliness, for whatever that meant to me. It looked clean enough, but what did I know? The floor of the habitat was still largely rock and dirt, not my idea of sanctuary walking. I knew they didn’t have any inhabitants living here in the past few weeks, but I would be pretty pissed if there was gorilla crap left all over or the like. Still, there was little I could do about it, either way.
“And of course, we’ve redone the interior to be much more accommodating. You won’t even miss your own home! ” The director said with a laugh. I resisted the urge to punch him. Who the fuck gave him the right? ! Fucking salesman.
I held my tongue, nodding at his words. As much as I loathed it, I needed him. This man had the one thing I required more than anything in the world. And he knew it. Of all such establishments in the country, this was the best money could buy. And this man was only interested in my money. Another high bidder with the same condition could easily fill my spot.
I sighed, trying not to let the director hear me. It wouldn’t do me any good to piss him off. I was going to be his spokesperson, the first man to change into a gorilla to be given this facility. He would advertise his humanitarian efforts and drown in grant and donation money, and I would receive a subpar existence in a revamped zoo. The worst part was, I was getting as much out of the deal as he was, given the alternatives.
Though he kept up a charade of generosity, I wasn’t fooled. I knew his kind well. As soon as the camera was off, he wouldn’t give a damn about me. In many respects, I was a prisoner to his whims. I had no doubt that he would do everything to save money and cut corners at the detriment of my comfort, and no one would be the wiser.
Though I was paying for a private residence, I expected my benefactor would like nothing more than to sell out the space to as many people infected with my strain as he could. It was too much of a money grab from him not to. He could easily charge any other soon-to-be gorillas the same amount of the space he was charging me.
This habitat originally housed over a dozen individuals before they were relocated. I could just imagine having to share my space with a whole group of gorillas with no way to defend my right to live here in private. The public would go along with it. After all, wouldn’t I be lonely? Wouldn’t I want to spend my life with others going through the same thing as me? With no concept of territorial fighting and the potential for someone in a gorilla body to lose their human senses, what the public might find compassionate could spell disaster for me. Well, more of a disaster than turning into a gorilla.
I shuddered at that. Bad enough to live in a zoo for the rest of my life, but to not be able to choose my roommates? The idea sickened me. Still, I knew it was a likely scenario, especially if I gave the director any incentive to do so.
I knew I wouldn’t have much power over my living condition after I lost the ability to speak. That was what kept me so skeptical in the end. I did my best to go over the legal paperwork myself, making sure all the I’s were dotted, and the t’s were crossed. Fuck, it had been my profession for the last ten years, and I was damned if I was going to outdone by my own system.
Still, I knew the trade as well as anyone. It was not a difficult thing to argue the legal terms of an agreement with an infusion of fresh jargon. Without the ability to communicate my wishes, it would be a simple task for someone willing to find a loophole in my contract. If there was a way for the director to take away more power and autonomy from me to fill his pockets, he would.
There was no denying that soon I, and the rest of the residents, would be little more than animals. Though we would retain our sense of self or most of it, we would be physically animals. And even though we had all been human, there were still legal battles for how much we retained human-level rights in our new bodies. Even if gorillas could use sign language, I didn’t know it. I doubted the caretakers here would be teaching me.
I forced myself out of the self-pity session and allowed myself to truly take in my new digs. I knew this facility was set up for the use of those infected with the later stage effects of the novel zoomorphic virus. It was advertised to provide close-to-human treatment as possible. Full-service staff would tend to all the needs of the residents. It was bullshit, I knew. It would be dangerous for any employees to get too close in case they were infected by those still changing. The treatment would be subpar at best. We would be lucky to be fed and have our cages cleaned regularly!
Still, with no cure for the secondary effects of the virus, people needed permanent residences to house their eventual species. Thousands of infected people showed signs of total physical conversion after exhibiting the initial symptoms. Their new bodies would be ill-adapted to living in the apartments and homes where most Americans frequented.
Most of the people infected tended to turn into more… domesticated creatures. I could hazard a guess as to it being because we were around dogs and animals like that more often in our day-to-day lives. Fuck, I’m a lawyer, not a scientist. I don’t honestly know. For anyone turning into a golden retriever, lucky you. I’m not you. I’m me. I’m turning into a fucking gorilla.
It was much easier to find permanent homes for those victims who were on their way to becoming a more mundane species. There were plenty of barns and kennels and the like if they couldn’t be placed with their family. If I was a dog, maybe my wife would have kept me! Honestly, though, she hated having me home as a man; there was no way she’d stand me barking all day!
For those whose bodies were only seen in America at the zoo, they needed suitable places to live. There weren’t as many people in that category, but there were enough. There wasn’t much choice other than to convert existing facilities like zoos into new housing for changed people. It was lucky that those places were converted as quickly as they were to meet the needs of the infected. I didn’t know what happened to the zoo’s former residents, and to be honest, I didn’t want to. Bad enough I had to live like an animal in a zoo, I hated to think of the former animals ending up in the wild unprepared, in someone’s private collections, or, worse, in a food-processing plant!
Hell, only a little over a month ago, I could have never imagined that might be me someday. Yet, here I was. Even with all the evidence of the virus’s effects, how it changed society overnight and ruined lives, it was never going to happen to me, right? I had money and a house well out of the city. I had all I needed to stay hidden away until a vaccine was developed, and it was safe to go out.
My wife complained of being stuck inside, of course. Hailee hadn’t worked since I’d gotten my position in my law firm. I was fine with her being a stay at home mom. We didn’t need the money, and in the end, it saved on babysitters. She liked the arrangement well enough before the virus hit. Without the ability to attend her country club, church, or any of the tea social and book club meeting bullshit she seemed to subsist on, (and all the drama there in that she then dragged home to me like the proverbial bird on the doorstep) she was in a constant state of boredom.
It didn’t take long in those first few weeks to realize much of our marriage was a sham. Being forced to live in a house with someone you shared nothing in common with was agony. I hadn’t even realized it before, but none of our hobbies matched. We never really spent time together, save for dinners and family functions. Finding something to fill our days without work became a chore. Forced to stay home with bored kids and an even more bored wife was not my idea of paradise. Without contact from my friends and coworkers, I was going crazy.
The weeks of isolation gave me too much time for introspection. I soon realized that I hadn’t been into Hailee for much other than her looks. I really did see her as a trophy wife, chosen for arm candy rather than for love. She was just as guilty, likely just interested in my money. She had everything she wanted with me, the car, the house and kids and material possessions, anyway. Before now, I guess neither one of us knew we were missing love and companionship, let alone wanting it.
It only got worse when the quarantine period extended from weeks to months with no end in sight. I was working entirely from home now, and Hailee was still unable to attend all those things that kept her happy. We began to resent each other, hating that we were stuck inside and hating each other for the false charade we’d kept all this time. She constantly criticized my drinking and lack of attentiveness with the kids, and I lamented that she did nothing around the house now that she had no weekly housekeeper. Our discontentment soon turned into shouting matches, the likes of which could be heard all the way down the street.
Every day, I cursed the damn virus. We were blissful in our ignorance, damnit! We didn’t need each other in our lives to have lived together. Forced togetherness only drove us apart.
I was getting fucking sick of the quarantine rules. I didn’t believe this “transformation” bullshit. It was some sort of government hoax to keep us inside. It had to be. I didn’t have any clue what they gained from it, mind you. But what else could it be? As a lawyer, I always looked into facts and figures. But people becoming animals? That was grade A, farm grade bullshit.
I didn’t give a damn about all the new regulations for social distancing and the like when things did start to open up a little. I mean, I wore the damn masks and kept 6 feet away at all times. But what was the fucking point? The fucking flu killed more people, and I didn’t wear a mask for that!
My biggest escape was when the bars opened up again. I’d been fine drinking at home until the wife’s nagging turned into outright hostility. Eventually, I didn’t even have a moment of peace. Can you blame me for wanting to escape reality for a little while?
I had this nice little dive outside town where I wouldn’t be seen by the neighbors. At first, I only went out once a week, just to blow off some steam. But the more Hailee started nagging me, the more I felt the need to go more often. Money wasn’t really a problem; after all, we couldn’t exactly save for a vacation! It was one of the few vices I’d been allowed, and I took to it like a duck to water.
This particular watering hole was great. Run by one of those old-timers named Gus. They didn’t even make me wear a mask! Pretty low crowd due to fear over the fucking pandemic, anyway. That suited me just fine. I had my own little booth, the TV set to what little constituted a sports channel these days. It was fine with me.
As the weeks went on, the joint started getting busier, and it became harder to secure my table. A few twenties usually did the trick, though. Still, I hated heading out to see the place full. It was part of the reason I started going more often in hopes of finding the nights where it wasn’t so damn crowded. At least, that’s the excuse I came up with.
I didn’t give a fuck about the news much these days. At least they stopped using the zoomorphic virus as a scare tactic so much. Still, it focused too much on shitty politics and other stuff I didn’t give a rat’s ass about. My caseload had skyrocketed in the past few weeks, a result of the dumpster fire our country had become. Coming here to blow off steam was my only reprieve.
Even with the news of a ‘second wave’ I still didn’t pay things much mind. There were more cases of the virus in my city again, followed by cautions of repeated lockdowns. But old Gus was determined to keep this place afloat before the government shut it down. He even had a shotgun under the bar in case the “man” tried to take away his rights to do business. The old geezer had balls, I’ll give him that!
I was with the minority who wasn’t afraid. The right minority, so I’d told myself. I ignored the cautions, even when the stupid app my wife made me get went off, saying there was a reported case I’d come into contact with. I only had the fucking thing installed cause she was worried about the kids. I’d gotten into a yelling match with her over that. Not anywhere in the world did a kid ever come down with the “secondary symptoms! ”
I didn’t listen, though, and went about my trips to the bar even more frequently. Until one morning, when I woke up with a massive headache and cough that barely allowed me to get out of bed. When I did, my wife insisted I immediately get a test, along with the whole family. I was positive, the only one in the household.
The first week was hell. The flu hit me full force, coughing so hard I was sure I’d lose a lung and throwing up any food that hit my lips. I was confined to the bed that entire week, which pissed off the missus who had to move to the guest room. I wasn’t much for movies, but nothing else could occupy my time while sick. Worst of all, I couldn’t even go out and drink! The only benefit was that I didn’t have to work, and I had more than enough sick days to get by. That and the wife stayed far away from me in her own corner of the house!
Even after I started to feel better, I still had to stay around the house in isolation. That was hell on its own. Even worse was how I felt just days after the flu let up. I could barely stand the damn itching! It was mostly centered around my legs and right above my feet. But after the first day, most of my body was plagued. It was maddening!
I was more worried I’d developed a reaction to my fabric softener than any kind of fucking transformation. Even the pepperings of black hair were not enough to sway my opinion. I was supposed to report it, but I didn’t fucking bother. It wasn’t their business what kind of body hair I had.
That was before my feet changed. I don’t know what was worse. The searing pain of feeling my big toes dislodge and rotate up my heel, the skin turning dark and leathery while the muscle and bone underneath tore and reformed and grew twice their size, or the fact that I was wrong. I was so goddamn wrong. There should have been no way a human being could change into another animal. It defied every truth I knew about the world. They were all liars, weren’t they?
Even if it was true, why did it have to happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? I’d worked hard to get where I was. I had everything a man desired. A hot wife, tons of money, a nice house, and a fancy car. I wanted for nothing, save for some fucking space that I was denied due to the quarantine. Now, it seemed, I was going to get all the space from the rest of the world I could ever want.
I realized that I’d been staring off into space for too long. It happened a lot these days. I wasn’t one for self-pity, not usually. Any shit I ever had happened to me, I either dealt with it like a man or took to the vice of drink till it blew over. Not this time. There was nothing I could do when my literal body was betraying me. When the very skin and muscle were warping underneath against my will, robbing me of every bit the man I once was. How could I not fall into severe hopelessness?
The director was getting impatient. Well, it was hard to tell through the suit, anyway. My eyesight wasn’t as good as it once had been, but I was pretty good at picking up on body language. It was like my brain was being rewired, trained for it. It was part of being an ape, I’d researched. Apparently, they used body signals to make up for the fact that they didn’t speak.
I could still speak, so I didn’t give a shit about it. For now, at least. My voice was already gravelly, and it hurt to say certain phrases. The one doctor who was actually worth his paycheck told me that I wouldn’t be able to speak, even though I likely wouldn’t lose my memory. My fucking gorilla vocal cords wouldn’t be capable of it, I guessed.
I gave the director a nod, not wanting to speak out and embarrass myself. He told me to take my time, but he had other pressing needs to attend to. He had done his fucking news segment to bring his publicity. The man had better things to do than to deal with me. To be honest, I would rather be left alone.
The staff excused themselves and left with the director. It was for the best. I didn’t think I could stand them overhead, and I still had the means to get into my own cage. The building would be locked from the outside, just as much for my safety as anyone else. I had the run of the building, though there was little outside the actual habitat.
Most of this building was converted into a sizable gorilla habitat when the zoo was constructed. A few smaller animal exhibits had dotted the outside, but they were vacant now. The main area was walled off from visitors, but I now had access from the lower part.
There was a hill separating parts of the habitat, with a decent-sized pool of water at the bottom. The top area had plenty of toys, not that I, a grown man, would ever play with them, gorilla or not. There were a tire swing and climbing equipment in the shape of trees. There were a few artificial trees in the center, with thick branches the size I assumed that gorillas required.
An entire dome of metal bars, integrated interwoven shapes around the cage reminded me too much of the monkey bars I grew up with as a kid. I couldn’t stop myself from staring, memories of my childhood flooding my mind. I had acted quite the monkey in my youth, spending hours swinging from one bar to the next. A lot of the kids in my age group were too afraid to climb as high as I did. But I loved it, being higher, being better than all the other kids. I had apparently developed my competitive streak early.
Even after falling from a tree and breaking my arm more than once, I never gained a fear of heights. It was only another problem for me to overcome after I healed. I was back up in the trees as soon as it didn’t hurt anymore. That made me laugh. With the feet I now had, I wouldn’t be falling out of trees anytime soon!
I couldn’t see much of the lower area from my vantage point here. Which, as the director made a point to say to me, was the purpose. Captive gorillas needed as much privacy as humans. Another advantage of my new situation, if you could call it that. I had a place to hide away whenever I didn’t want to be bothered. Not that I expected any visitors. But I had the option to tell them to fuck off. Well, not that I could use words after the changes set in. I’d only be able to hoot and grunt, growl and roar.
The studies of sign language would have been handy had I bothered to look at them. I figured trying to learn gorilla sign language would be a use of my time now that I was a fulltime monkey. I had nothing better to do now. It was my own fucking fault, living in denial those last few weeks at home. No matter how much my face changed, how much fur I grew, and how my back bulked up. No matter how thick the sagittal crest swelled behind me. No matter how rubbery my lips became, how girthy my fingers were. No matter how inhumanly strong I became. I refused to believe I was going to be an ape for the rest of my days.
I spent as much time as possible distracted by legal work, though mostly my own. Even though I didn’t have to, I kept up my caseload as much as I was able. It was my own personal denial. I was so engrossed that before I knew it, it was time to move in.
No matter how I stared, I couldn’t imagine living here. Living in a cage, like an animal, being fed all of my meals, being cleaned up after, not being able to speak. A month ago, I never could have imagined this would be me. Even standing there now, it was surreal. I didn’t think it would fully hit me until I was there for a few days.
Resigning myself, I went downstairs, entering the unlocked door to where the zoo manager’s area lay. The cage that separated the gorilla sleeping area was still there, along with the straw that made their bedding. Hastily thrown in was a mattress, heavy-duty to support the 600-pound body that would soon be mine. Beside it, kept in place by an extension cord, was a TV and DVD set up. Fuck, did people still buy DVDs? All the money I was throwing into this place, and they couldn’t even afford internet streaming services! I sighed. Looking down at my hands, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to use it.
To my absolute excitement, a rudimentary toilet was set up in the room, though closer to my bed than I would have liked. At least it worked. It was better than going on the floor like a common animal. And even though my digits were restricted, at least I could wipe without any assistance. It seemed like such a small victory, but at least it was something.
Some of the others I’d seen would not be so lucky. I wasn’t the only one being given the “grand tour” of their new homes today. I didn’t want to pry too much, figuring they had their own shit to deal with. Yet I couldn’t help looking at what fates awaited others coming into the zoo. I wouldn’t get the chance again, not being able to leave the grounds now that I was in my new home.
One guy was naked, save a massive cloth over his back. I doubted much would fit him at his size now. I didn’t get a good look at his face since his back was to me. But I could see the beginnings of his trunk waving around in agitation. One other thing was that he stunk. Guess it was hard to wash himself mid-transition. It was a combination of body odor and other smells you’d expect from a guy reduced to eating mostly veggies. I felt for him, as someone who hated vegetables on my best days.
One thing that did catch my eye was the size of his dick. Look, I’m not gay or anything, I just had a little curiosity, like any other man. The dude was hung. Well, at least as much as I could tell from the size of his sheath. It had to be way bigger than his human self. I did envy that. Mine was… well, gorillas aren’t exactly packing. Pros and cons, I suppose.
There were worse fates than having a smaller dick than an elephant man. One woman had waddled in, arms tucked under her armpits as she staggered on massive pink legs. She was more changed than anyone else present. Didn’t even bother wearing clothes, though I could see why. There was nothing to cover. No breasts, no genitals, nothing. Just smooth curves covered with feathers. The only thing human remaining was her head, hair, and all. She’d be quite the looker as a woman.
Another couple came in with a similar set of changes. Well, at least I’d assumed, at first, they were a couple. They didn’t seem to like each other, though. More likely, they were changing into the same species and forced to cohabitate. Each of them had bizarre-looking beaks sticking out of their lips, and their heads were hairless. The woman’s fingers didn’t seem to work right, and the man had massive iridescent feathers sticking up above his backside.
It dawned on me that the two of them were to become peacocks, or something similar. Given the difference in genders, I figured it was likely they would have little recourse in their caged proximity but to mate if they came into season. I couldn’t say how much instinct or desire would influence the situation. I felt for them, being forced together without a choice. I didn’t like my wife, not really, but at least I had chosen her. Losing that choice was the thing that scared me the most.
I found it a little funny that there weren’t any lions or bears or wolves among the changing. I know it’s silly, but I always thought of myself as a predator, going for the weaknesses of my opponents on the courtroom floor. Now I would likely spend the rest of my life as a monkey. Not that being a cat or a bear or a wolf would be any better. I’d be one of the cool animals, but I wouldn’t have working hands. Fuck, I hated this. Too much fucking time to think!
I sighed, closing the door of the habitat behind me. It didn’t matter since I was technically locked in the main building, but it gave me some semblance of control. What little control I had, I would take. All my hard work, all of my struggles, all of my successes meant nothing to a monkey. Everything I’d worked for, erased by the stupid flu. For the rest of my life, however long a gorilla’s life was, stuck in the zoo that was to be my new home.
With nothing much else to do, I sat on the bed, trying my best to sleep and escape the thoughts plaguing me. I could try my hairy body on the gym equipment in the upper area, but in the transitional state I was in, I wasn’t interested. The DVDs held no allure for me, and I had no cable or news channels to watch on the TV. I could try and practice the sign language, but what was the point if no one would be coming to visit, anyway? My wife had all but disowned me, and I didn’t want my kids to see me like this. All I had was my work…
A thought hit me then. It was so obvious, I chastised myself for not thinking about it earlier, even with the amount of stress I was under. A future for myself, one with a purpose beyond being an ape in the zoo. And if I acted upon it quickly enough, maybe I wouldn’t need sign language to voice the idea…
*************************************************************************************************************
My eyes opened to the familiar white walls of my room, and I yawned, admiring the thick eye teeth in my periphery. I’d gotten pretty used to seeing them, and had to admit they were impressive. They, along with my protruding black muzzle, had become a familiar sight in my day to day life. I didn’t look too bad, all things considered.
I wanted to sleep, my body craving more than the typical human 8 hours. But I had work to do. I forced my body to roll over, my feet gripping the thick pencils on the floor and the papers I’d been working on. They worked even better than my hands for writing! My hands reached up to the cupboard installed above my bed, and I ate an apple in a few bites while I started signing my name to the documents.
It had been a few weeks since I’d settled into the new routine, and I had to admit, I wouldn’t change a thing. The deal with my firm and the zoo management had been pretty easy to draw up. I couldn’t believe how much flexibility I had on the bargaining table! Thankfully, I’d gotten most of the details worked out while I could still speak. Sign language was still kinda slow with my hands so thick, and I was otherwise preoccupied with other work to learn it in detail yet!
I’d settled into a long-term contract with my firm, allowing me to continue my law practice in a limited fashion at my new home. Though my abilities were restricted by my thicker fingers and dim eyesight, the publicity of having one of the transformed doing legal work was well worth the fame my firm gained. It kept my mind sharp and occupied during the long days. The added funds gave me sufficient creature comforts, including the privacy in my habitat that I’d wanted most of all!
There was one other advantage in my situation. In the new world, there was a spotlight on those who had changed. Everyone likes a sob story, after all. And what’s sadder than a man who ‘lost everything to be a monkey at a zoo’!
Choice cases. Extra funds to support my creature comforts. And even a few spots on TV and news channels in the coming days! Fuck the virus. Like everything else in life, I’d worked hard to overcome and make the best of my situation. Best of all, the director was in my pocket, not the other way around. There wouldn’t be any gorillas in the cage with me, as long as I didn’t want them to be! I had no intention of just ‘monkeying around’ with my new life! Ha!