Jared fretted the rest of the day. She felt better as her mild injuries healed, but she had to find a way to get out of the zoo transfer. Her chance for escape would be almost nil once she was there.
Her only hope was that one of them might make a mistake, think that she was docile long enough for her to lunge into the open. They wouldn't be expecting anything dangerous, she was a small doe after all, not a deadly predetor.
Shortly after dawn, three young men entered the stall. Jared breifly thought about running around them, but wasn't sure what they might do. One of them was carring a flour sack. They gently backed her into a corner. Jared decided that it was now or never, and tried to lunge around the trio.
It wasn't to be. The sack was expertly wrapped around her head, cutting off her sight completely. She felt a small prick in her rump and she felt her body go limp.
In a half dazed state, she was carried to a waiting truck for a short drive to the local zoo. Jared tried to stay awake, hoping to fight off the tranquilizer before they got there, but it just wouldn't happen. She fell fast asleep.
**
She didn't know how much time passed, but when she awoke, she was in a much smaller steel stall. She looked around for a while before realizing that the bars of the stall opened out to a large grassy area. After a few seconds, she realized that she was at the zoo in some prep room that the animals came into for treatment. Once they decided she was safe, she could be easily released to meet the other deer.
A woman walked over and made kind sounds to her, rubbing her gently around the ears. "What a sweet addition," she finally said, "You're going to be a big help to your kind." She stepped away without elaboration, but Jared knew what she meant, had in fact been trying no to think about it for hours.
A big reason the zoo wanted her was for their captive breeding program. Even if she didn't help them out by letting a buck breed with her, they'd simply do it in the lab. If Jared didn't get out of this zoo, she'd be a mother inside a year!