I Am Zombie Bait

Chapter 25

I often questioned the logistics of the orphanage. The inside was fine, though the dining room was drafty and the floral rose tiles in the bathroom were worse than the apocalypse. I didn't even want to think about all the electrical problems. Ha! I made jokes, to myself, like a very sad person. Wow, that got real serious real quick. Anyway, it was the outside that bothered me. There was a backdoor which the panthers used to get out of the house. But it led to a very thin space. It was like some kind of outdoor hallway. It only had enough room for two people to walk next to each other, and that was if they were popping their personal bubbles. It wasn't this way at just the back of the building either. Both sides of the house ran close to the wall too. Who came up with this stuff? Was there really so little space on this lot that such a thing was necessary? Why even bother with windows on the first floor if all you can see is a brick wall? There were many questions that would never be answered.

But it wasn't all bad. That thin space was the very reason the zoms didn't notice Cougar as he made his way along the side of the building. The only problem was that it wouldn't be long before he walked out into view. As he neared the front, he stopped and crouched down.

Even better! He wanted to hunt the horde. Well, wouldn't that be fantastic? I shoved my feet into some shoes and ran out the back door. Any chance of us surviving would be drowned in the sea of the zombie horde if I didn't stop Cougar from giving us away. I rounded the corner of the building, slipping only a lot.

"Cougar!" I hissed at him, trying to not be too loud. Shouting wasn't recommended. Of course, the bloody panther ignored me as he stared at his prey, his tail twitching back and forth. "Cougar, I swear to Bubba if you don't get back here right now-" There was a strange sound like a low hiss from behind me. I turned to see Bagheera standing there, his eyes on Cougar. The other panther looked back at his dark counterpart.

Suddenly, his eyes shifted to me. I don't know how much of an expression panthers usually have, but his look seemed to ask what the heck I was gonna do about all this. Which, honestly, was a great question. I took in a hard breath and swallowed. "Trust me. I'll get us out of this." He gave the zoms one last glance before he turned and came towards us. Call me crazy, but I got the feeling he understood me. Whatever, priorities, focus!. "Great! Wonderful! Inside!" I whisper yelled. I got us in the back door and when I turned around I stopped short. All five panthers had their eyes on me, almost looking at me expectantly. How does a panther manage to look at someone expectantly? Call me crazier, but I got the sense they knew exactly how much danger we were in. Shaking the thought from my head, I began running around the first floor gathering the things I needed.

"Okay, I know this doesn't look good, but I've got a plan. Shocker, right? Point is, I can keep us from becoming dinner, probably." I slung the potato cannon over one shoulder and my bow over the other. I walked to the back door again, double checking I had everything I needed. I noticed that the panthers were now standing close by, as if ready to follow me. I scratched a non-existent itch on my forehead. "I'm going to keep us safe. But to do that, I need you all to stay here and stay quiet. Trust me. I got this." Bagheera stepped forward and nudged me with his head before taking a step back. And then they all laid down, almost like someone had given the order to. I nodded, figuring that was the closest I was going to get to an acknowledgement. I slipped out the back door as quietly as I could, walking only a few feet before facing the back wall. It was weird having a Pride of panthers seemingly put not just their trust, but their lives in my hands. Then again, maybe it was best not to overthink it. Whatever, I needed to focus. I was probably reading to much into it and thinking crazy thoughts anyway. For now, I had a job to do, and I needed to get on it.

I pulled out my makeshift grappling hook and rope. I had made this a few days back as a possible way to get the wires looped around themselves, but it was too hard to aim and control. Plus the grappling part was made of wood from a few broken chairs that I'd hammered together, so it wasn't exactly high quality. But it was all I had. I swung it up and over the wall. It only took me a few tries to get it to latch on, which was way fewer than I thought it would be. I climbed up the rope, trying my best to not think about how shaky it felt in my hands. A few seconds later I was at the top and hoping down to the other side.