I Am Zombie Bait

Chapter 19

I woke to darkness. Like complete and utter darkness. I blinked my eyes a few times to make sure they were actually open. They were. Where the heck was I? It wasn't the orphanage, I could tell because the ground was hard, which didn't do my back much good when I tried to sit up. The pain was what tipped me off to still being alive. Woohoo. Go me. I get to fighting to stay alive for seemingly no reason or benefit what so ever. I could have more enthusiasm, but I didn't. I felt some soft, warm pillow like things laying around me too. What was this? Fur?

That's when I tensed up. Fur. What creatures out there had I encountered so far that actually had fur? A few cats, some raccoons, a very lost looking gerbil, a rat or two, that's always fun, and, oh yeah, panthers. Swallowing the very present lump in my throat I began to feel around for my flashlight. But instead of touching my flashlight, I found more fur. A lot more fur. What was I? A Disney princess? How many animals did I have here? Maybe I just somehow ended up on a very tacky fur couch or something. Was that even a thing? I'd have to see it to believe it. Which leads me back to checking my pockets. And there it was, I finally found a light. I flicked it on and took in my surroundings.

Yeah, those were panthers. All five panthers. Even Bagheera, the black panther. Well isn't that just dandy. No tacky couches here, which was almost disappointing in it's own way. Would have really tied the living room together. Anyway, why I had a pride of panthers sleeping around me, I did not know. Where I was I did not know. How I got there I did not know. There were too many things I did not know. Those would be questions for later as one of the panthers lifted its head up and looked straight at me. I froze. Granted, I hadn't been moving much, but, you know, gotta call it something when you suddenly have to fight the urge to wet yourself. Also, I was still in a lot of pain and I had one arm in a sling. So when I locked eyes with this feral creature, well there was jack all that I could do about it. Thusly, I decided to do what any normal person would do, I smiled and nervously lifted a hand in greeting. "Hi?"

The panther snorted, leaned forward to sniff at my flashlight before licking its lips and laying back down. Huh. That's not what I expected. Well, don't look a sleeping panther in the eye, as they say. I got up, and I got out. Well I got about three steps out the door when Bagheera suddenly appeared beside me. I let out a cry and jumped a little, but he didn't seem to care. He looked at me before leaning forward and rubbing his head against my side. And he was... purring? By all the celestial bodies, he was purring! Why was this panther rubbing up on me and purring? What the heck had I done when I was out of it?

I decided to try something because when crazy happens all rational thought has a tendency to up and leave. I reached out slowly with my hand until it landed softly on his head. And I started scratching! And he started purring more! I was petting a god forsaken panther! Scratch that off the bucket list. "Just so you know," I said, scratching behind his ears. "If you still kill me after this, I'm pretty sure it'll mean some really bad juju for you." Bagheera didn't seem to care. He pushed his head harder against me, nearly knocking me over.

The wind blew and I shivered. I didn't know how long I'd been in that department store, but it was night. And it was freezing! How was I alive? Even if the panthers didn't eat me, I should have froze to death. Then I realized. They kept me warm. They laid around me so they could share their heat with me and keep me warm. But... why? We were trying to kill each other how ever many nights ago. Did I earn their respect or something? Bagheera purred even louder as I kept scratching his head. Whatever it was, it looked like they wouldn't be trying to eat me, for now at least. I pulled my hand away, causing Bagheera to give me a look, and placed it on my forehead. I couldn't tell if I still had a fever or not, which was a major improvement over when I definitely knew I had a fever.

I took a moment to pull up my jacket sleeve and look at the scratches on my arm. They weren't as swollen and nasty looking anymore. It even looked like they were healing. I turned back to the entrance of the store. How did I get here? What happened to me? All I remembered was needing antibiotics and heading out to find some. But that was it.