"Excellent, " said Mary Lou. "Let's go." She began to walk quickly towards the door.
"Wait. We need some supplies before we go, " said Evelyn.
"We must not waste time. And besides, we can't carry anything, " said Mary Lou with urgency.
Evelyn looked sadly at her torn shirt. On a shelf, she saw some small satchels with shoulder straps. "We can use these, " she said, tossing one to Mary Lou. "Now grab a flashlight and anything else that might be helpful. It will only take a minute."
With an exasperated grunt Mary Lou grabbed a flashlight, and quickly began to look in the cabinets on the left, while Evelyn looked through the shelves on the right. Mary Lou opened a refrigerator, and stared in surprise. Inside the fridge were multiple large vials, amber in color. Written on the side of the vials was the following warning: "Caution! Experimental Reptile Growth Hormone. Handle with care. Not for human consumption". She remembered these vials well, and it was part of the reason she hated the veterinarians and was so eager to leave.
When Mary Lou was acquired as a young alligator, she was just a foot in length, with an expected final length of just six feet. But the zoo directors wanted something spectacular that would bring in the tourists, so the veterinarians experimented with reptile growth hormones. Over the years, the painful injections caused her body to grow well beyond normal limits. She remembered the pain as her bones grew and grew. The unending hunger as her body searched for the energy to match the demands of growth. Most of her growth ended after puberty, but alligators will continue to grow slowly until they die. And the veterinarians still injected her with the compound every month. A snarl formed on her face at the thought.
"Find anything useful? " asked Evelyn.
Mary Lou quickly grabbed several of the vials and stuffed them in her satchel, next to Evelyn's security badge, along with a few of the special large syringes. "Maybe," said Mary Lou with a smile.
"Well, I've got everything I need. Let's get out of here, " said Evelyn.
"Yeah, me too. " said Mary Lou. "I am ready to leave."