Chapter Text
The sound starts at an almost imperceptible level.
Thunk thunk
Something heavy dragging itself against wood. Chloe barely stirs, her tail flicking twice as she drifts in the void between the sleeping and waking world.
Thunk
Slowly, she opens an eye. It must be the middle of the night because none of the cats around her are awake.
She yawns and stretches luxuriously. The glow of the radiator is so warm, it feels almost criminal to deprive herself of heat.
Thunk thunk thunk
The noise is louder now.
More desperate.
Chloe pads softly toward the door, careful to stay away from boards that might make noise.
Thunk
Anything could be out there.
Rabid, frothing, twitching things whose bones snapped like twigs when they moved.
Creatures with claws like bloody razors and bodies writhing with maggots.
Thunk
Thunk
Monsters who wore your friend’s face as they wailed pleas through their mangled jaws.
Thunk
She leaps onto a windowsill and peers out into the vast darkness.
There is a cat at the door.
His fur is matted, his skin has a blue tinge from the cold, and his whole body is shaking. Chloe leans closer to the window.
The cat is clearly exhausted, yet there is a wild kind of determination in his blue eyes that fascinates her.
He presses his head against the door again.
Thunk
Thunk
Chloe pauses and edges back from the window.
This cat doesn’t look like the infected in the basement, but she can’t be sure.
It’s too early to tell. She has to watch and wait.
Thunk thunk
The sound is slower now, and the cat seems almost dejected. He glances for the first time at the rest of the cabin.
The sagging, snow covered roof, the piles of rotting firewood, the grimy windows.
The windows.
Fear spikes through her.
If he’s seen her, he doesn’t show it.
Then, suddenly, he turns and begins to walk away.
No, Chloe thinks.
The thought makes her pause in surprise. There is no reason for her to care about a ragged, sickly little cat.
Then again, she is not known for being reasonable.
She slams her body against the door with enough force that it hurts and suddenly she is outside. She inhales sharply, the sheer cold making her head spin.
Snowflakes spiral overhead.
The cat is still staggering along.
“Stop!” Chloe screams.
He turns his head around agonizingly slowly. Blood is trickling from his lip. His eyes are glassy.
He collapses into the snow.