Warriors: Claws of the Dead

Chapter 5

That night's sleep was the worst sleep Wolfpaw ever got. Not even the night before compared to it.

Nightmares haunted Wolfpaw's mind whenever he drifted off, and he'd wake up each time after watching Pebbleleaf's whole pelt being ripped off, Frostpaw's face being mangled, Juniperleap's tail being yanked until only the bone remained, and seeing Whitefur's head so terribly ruined that all that was visible was his skull, and many more of his Clanmates meeting horrible fates before a huge gang of zombies lunged at him.

Each time, everything was basically the same. Watch the ones you loved brutally slaughtered. Get murdered as well. Wake up. Breath heavily. Be relieved to see everyone alive. Think about the odds of your and your family's survival; very, very low. Get back to sleep, somehow. Repeat.

That, and while the zombies had not yet discovered ShadowClan and RiverClan in their temporary hiding spot, the horrid creatures still gave off their unreal screeches outside, striking fear into every cat's heart.

So when Wolfpaw woke up with bloodshot eyes and a ragged pelt, he understood why everyone else in the camp looked exactly like he did. He wasn't the only one going through this apocalypse with no answers and almost no hope of actually surviving.

Everyone had to endure it.

Everyone had to go to sleep knowing very well that they may never see another moonrise.

Everyone had to laugh at a joke their friend made with the fact that their last memory with this friend could be watching them get ripped limb from limb in moments.

There was never a single moment where everyone was completely safe. Wolfpaw was surprised that no zombies had broken into the camp; maybe their senses were weakened at the expense of their newfound, incredible strength.

He hoped so. That would give RiverClan and ShadowClan a huge advantage.

Wolfpaw wasn't aware that Pebbleleaf was awake in the bedding stack next to him, but she probed his paw gently. "It's time," she mewed, nodding her head to some warriors of both Clans, exiting their den. Creekswirl, Emberstrike, Stormstar, and Splashstar were all in the clearing.

Wolfpaw felt a flash of annoyance. "When were they going to come get us apprentices?"

Cloudpaw, RiverClan's only apprentice besides Corppaw, grumbled, "As usual."

Cloudpaw seemed to be quite the grumpy tom. Although Wolfpaw had never met him before this, he'd grown to know that Cloudpaw was easily irritated in these past nights.

The cheerful Corppaw, however, didn't sleep in the apprentices' den like Wolfpaw had expected her to. He assumed she was with her mentor, Leopardstorm, as her mentor seemed to be her favorite cat in all existence. We all need someone we appreciate at a time like this, Wolfpaw thought.

"Frostpaw," Wolfpaw mewed to the lump of fur that was his sister, struggling to sleep in her makeshift bed. Her head whipped toward him right away. Wolfpaw heard her stomach grumble; he'd been trying to ignore it, but almost every cat in camp had a grumbling, hungry stomach at the moment. Throughout their stay, all anybody had eaten were tiny, insufficient scraps of old RiverClan fish that had been sitting out for about two sunrises. "We have to leave now."

"No!" Frostpaw cried. Wolfpaw's eyes widened, and he whipped his head around. Had his sister drawn the attention of any zombies? "Sorry, sorry, sorry," Frostpaw whispered on repeat, looking terrified. She buried her head in the ground. After a few moments, when all seemed safe and the warriors in the camp's clearing let their guard down after hearing Frostpaw shouting like that, she went on. "I don't want to leave. They're out there."