A Lost Cat

Chapter three

As Cat walked back towards the gym, he began to anxiously pick at his nails, obviously still shaken from Ana trying to touch his head. They re-entered the gym, Cat opened his notebook and tore off a sheet, quickly scribbling something down with a pencil he had in his pocket and handed it to her.

The sheet read "Garden for looks" and included a small drawing of a flower with the sun over it. Ana chuckled softly and put the note in her pocket while following him to the greenhouse. The greenhouse was warm and dry, and had many supports made of wood keeping the ceiling up, despite the aged look of it all. The flowers inside were fully blossomed and looked to be treated with extreme care.

"They're very pretty." She remarked as Cat lifted one of the pots to carry it outside into one of the spots the sun shone through from a hole in the ceiling. After he set it down in the light, he pointed towards the back exit and motioned for her to give back the paper. He wrote more down as they walked outside, leading to a larger garden, that looked more professionally made.

He handed the paper back to Ana with the word "looks" scribbled out and instead had "food" written and underneath the drawing of the flower was a drawing of a carrot growing in the dirt. Ana gave a small smirk towards him and noticed he was pointing towards a rusty shed on the outside of the fence.

"Why is this place still so old looking? I thought most of these were fixed after the war." She questioned and squatted down to get a closer look at the plants. She looked towards Cat, who gave a small shrug and pulled the shed door open; revealing seed packets that lined the walls. They were the same seeds as the crops growing, including several vegetables that could have its seeds harvested and replanted several times.

The two continued on, passing a corner leading to the back of the school, where Cat pushed open a door leading into a cafeteria area. The ceiling had collapsed in on half of the room, leaving only a few tables left standing. "Guess you haven't tried cleaning this part yet, but I doubt there would be much need for so much room." Assumed Ana, as Cat hopped over the counter and went into the kitchen, motioning for her to follow.

The smell of charred meat filled the air as she walked around the counter and entered the kitchen area, seeing him staring down at a small note placed on the knob of a stove that had a large burn mark on the ceiling above it. The smell of smoke was thick as she covered her nose and leaned in to see the note read "Don't cook with leaves again." and a sad face next to it.

"I learned how to cook at the orphanage, I think I could teach you some things if you want." She offered in a muffled voice through her hand covering her mouth and nose. Cat nodded, his head probably protecting him from the smell, and walked over towards the door of a large walk-in freezer; surrounded by ice boxes wrapped with tape. He peeled the tape off of one of the boxes and motioned for Ana to come over. He unlocked and quickly flung open the door of the freezer, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her in, slamming the door behind them just as quickly.

Ana started to shiver as soon as the cold air hit her, and looked around the small, dark room to see snow and ice covered the floor. There were lots of meats on the shelves, including an entire pig body hanging on a hook in the back. After a moment, she noticed that the pigs body had several bite marks all over it, and a large knife was embedded in its side. Cat quickly grabbed a tarp from the shelf and threw it onto the pig to cover it up.

He then proceeded to open up the ice box he held and flip it over to dump out a large amount of snow and ice that was inside, throwing some of it onto the shelves too. After the box was empty, Cat dropped it to the side, rubbed his hands together, and grabbed Ana's hand as they ran out of the freezer.

Ana quickly forgot about the pig in the freezer and the stench of the kitchen as she was just glad to be warm again. The two walked out into the cafeteria again; as Cat pondered for a second what there could be left to show her, before giving her a motion to stay put and running out the doors and down the hallway.

Ana tried waiting for a while before the smell from the burn crept in, and she decided to follow where Cat went. She walked slowly down the hall, blankly gazing out a window, cracked and covered in dust, until she was startled by the noises of cans being knocked over. She crept closer to the door and peeked in. Cat frantically gathered up a pile of empty cans that had fallen onto the floor. He then froze up as if he knew he was being watched and stood up again.

Ana stumbled backwards and got another look at his head, unchanged in it's expression but somehow intimidating all over again as he walked over, peeked through the door in the same way she did, and slowly pushed the door closed. She took a few deep breaths and stood back up, dusting herself off.

"S..Sorry about that Cat! Was just curious! But I might need to leave now, I'm sure they're missing me back at the orphanage." Ana yelled through the door. It quickly opened up again, with Cat standing on the other side. She flinched as he reached out to her, only for him to give her a soft pat on the head. He then waved goodbye, turned her towards the exit, and slammed the door on a confused Ana, who just accepted it and began walking home.