"Might as well go see what the giraffe exhibit was like. I used to love seeing them in elementary." said Morgan, shining the light from his handheld torch onto area marked with a silhouette of a giraffe.
"Really?" Garett said, giving his friend a look of complete disbelief.
"Hey! I'm not going to deny I had a cheesy childhood, unlike you who likes to hide all that past sunshine and rainbows under the bandwagon you're riding on!"
"Oh yeah? What're you trying to say about me then?"
"Okay, okay! Break it up ladies!" Rory announced, stepping in between the two and surprisingly calmed the two down before Garett hit Morgan on his arm with a friendly punch. The three couldn't help but chuckle at how quickly that escalated before walking down the path towards the giraffe exhibit.
When they reached the area, the three noticed that the exhibit itself was located inside a large climate-controlled dome. Based on the outline in the dark, it was easy to tell the dome was in complete disrepair with holes in the glass and fabric dotting all over its surface. The doors to the entrance weren't even connected to the frame as it was clear that natural weathering had worn them off their hinges. Carefully navigating their way across the broken glass, the group makes it inside, seeing that the exhibit was in a large pit surrounded by bleachers for audiences to sit as they watched the giraffes.
It certainly was a amazing sight, which begged the question of why such a innovative zoo was left abandoned? Rumors even had said that it was quite popular and showed no signs of slowing down. But that mystery wasn't their objective to solve. It was just to simply go in, take a few souvenirs and get out. Lo and behold, there was indeed a souvenir stand across the other side of the pit, and the only connection to that side was a perilous looking rope bridge running over it.
Sure, it would have been neat to be able to stand on what was once a sturdy platform and pet the giraffes as they walked by, but now it was nearly rotting apart and didn't look as sturdy.
"Maybe we should find another way across?" Morgan questioned aloud, testing the strength of the rope on their end.
"I don't know... It looks like there aren't any platforms to go across from this side." Rory said as he looked around.
"Come on, we're already here! Let's just tough it out and go quickly!" Garett announced, already stepping on the bridge, albeit with some care not to break it.
Morgan and Rory look at each other and shrug nervously as they join Garett in crossing the pit. Fortunately, the bridge overall was very sturdy and held tight despite its wear. Unfortunately, none of them were aware of the condition of the poles on the other side, which happened to be broken enough to give way once all three were away from the main platform. Thankfully, the bridge fell in a way that eased their way to the ground... Not that it stopped them from yelling in surprise and fear. It was what cushioned their fall that made the experience less worth it as the three harmlessly fell into a large pile of dry grass which also happened to throw up a dust of a putrid smell that can only be described as decades old giraffe waste.
"Ugh! You have got to be kidding me!" Rory said as he quickly leaped off the pile, patting the dust off of himself while sputtering out any that got into his mouth. He was soon joined by Morgan and Garett as they tried to clean themselves off as much as they could. The three then looked up to see that the pit was just high enough so that no one could possibly climb out without a ladder.
"Great! What are we gonna do now?!" Morgan said as Garett groaned in shame for coaxing his friends to cross the bridge.
That's when...