The L.Z.Z.

He got out of the government bus. He stood in front of a small white building, he blinked blankly and thought he had taken the wrong bus. He looked around and then walked towards the guard that was in a small room in front of the doors of the white building. He tapped on the glass and the guard wheeled his chair over to his desk.

"Um, is this the LZZ?"

"Why?"

"I am Alex Smith, I was hired recently, and I start today, um, can you tell me where to go?" He asked nervously, it was his first real job as a researcher. The guard picked up a very old looking phone.

"Yeah, Mary, were you expecting a new guy today?" He said holding the toothpick that he had in his mouth in his hand, "Yeah, Alex," He looked at Alex.

"Alex Smith."

"Yeah, Alex Smith, yeah, come get him, no, I am the guard, we already went over this," He put the phone down, clearly cutting her off, "She's coming, she is your new boss, have fun," He said, before going back to his small television. Alex Smith rolled his suitcase behind him as he neared the two large metal doors that served as the entrance to the facility. He hummed quietly waiting for the doors to open. He looked at his feet and then looked around. The facility was in the middle of nowhere, lost in a barren wasteland, much different than the city he had lived in, but this was his first job so he tried not to judge too much. He turned his head to the door quickly as the doors unsealed. He was still smiling. A woman, around his height walked out of the building. She held out her hand, gesturing for him to shake it.

"You must be Alex Smith, I am Mary Beth, your new boss for the time you are here, follow me, let's not stay in this heat," She said as he followed her into the facility, "You packed lightly."

"In the contract it said that I would have clothes given to me, so I brought only the necessary," He smiled at her, "This place seems a little small, I was expecting more."

"Don't judge a book by it's cover."

"Okay, well, if you say so," They entered a glass elevator, "How many species are here?"

"Over 3,500."

"Wow, that is a lot."

"From babies to fully or nearly full grown adults, you will be working in Section-Z, the unknown sections, we have a specimen from a few months ago and she seems to be a little bit of a pain for the two researchers that are there, so you will join them."

"Only three people?"

"Yes, we don't need hundreds for a single creature."

"Oh, I see," She pushed a button on the elevator and they began descending, into a massive complex, "Oh my."

"As I said, don't judge a book by its cover."

"I can see your point now, Ms. Beth."

"You will be working with Jake Young and Julie Green."

"Okay, how does this job work then?"

"They will explain it," She said as the elevator stopped and they were met by a tall man with blonde hair down to his shoulders. He was wearing a pair a blue jeans and a long, unbuttoned, white blouse, "Thank you, Jake, this is Alex Smith," He held his hand out and Alex shook it, "Well, I have to return to my section, if you need anything, Jake and Julie will explain."

"Thank you, Ms. Beth."

"Just Mary."

"Thank you, Mary," She left him with Jake, who began walking, hands in pockets. Alex began following him and they soon arrived in front of a pair of sealed metal doors. He swiped a key card over the keypad and they began opening.

"Welcome to Section-Z," He said as they entered a long hallway above a small forest, "The specimen lives there, in this forest."

"Why a forest?"

"Because that is similar to where they found it, so we assumed it would be a good habitat for it, since it had chosen to live there," He said as they left the corridor and entered a apartment like room, "This is where we are staying for the research time."

"How long is that?"

"We have been working here for 2 years, 231 days."

"Okay, so a while."

"But this specimen has only been here for a few months, so still new."

"Where is Julie?"

"She is preparing food, but it only eats a few of the things we give it, leaving a lot of the rest, so we are trying new things."

"Do you have a picture of the creature?"

"Before you go too crazy, let me introduce you to Julie and the place."

"Okay, sure, sure."

"Julie!" She came out of the kitchen, "New guy's here."

"Oh, hello there, I'm Julie, Jake, show him around, I am preparing the meal."

"Yeah, I was planning to," He said as she popped back into the kitchen, "So, let me show you where we sleep."