Reedstar's Selfishness (Zombie Warrior Cats)

Chapter 19 - Squirreltail's P.O.V.

Eclipse kept me up most of the night with her non-stop snoring. Once a kittypet, always a kittypet. I had thought, glaring toward her. After what seemed to be only moments of sleep, I woke up with the sun blazing down from the blue, cloudless sky. It was great. No rain, no breeze, just warm weather. The only thing that bugged me was that the Twoleg roof was sizzling hot. I couldn't keep my paws on the shiny topping for more than a heartbeat or my pads would surely burn off.

I realized I was the only one awake; Cloudjaw and Lilypatch were curled up near Lighteningice, who was also curled up in a ball with the three kits snoring softly. Heatherleg lay beside the white queen with Sunkit at her belly. Mudpaw was alone on the other side of the roof, while Eclipse lay - still snoring - in between the group. Redfur and Poppyheart lay a few tail-lengths away with their herbs in between them. I wondered if the heat would dry them out.

The sun was blazing like a ball of fire in the sky, scorching everything its rays touched. For once in a long time, I was dying for a drink. My mouth was dry and I needed water. No puddles were on the roof, just on the hard, rocky, crow-food infested ground. Any water source from below was bound to be infected or tampered with by Twolegs before the outbreak.

I hopped down onto the ground, forgetting to check if the coast was clear. I pricked my ears and scanned the grounds. No flesh-eaters. I spotted a puddle and padded toward it. A rainbow swirled in it. Smelling it briefly, my head shot back in disgust. Gross! It smelt of a Twoleg monsters.

I wasn't afraid to get my paws dirty, but I could tell it was poisoned. I stalked away, scanning from left to right in search of movement. My tongue was practically a lump of stone. I hadn't had anything to drink since we left the river! I should get some moss so everyone else can have some as well. I decided, smiling inwardly.

Standing up straight, I trotted toward the wooden fence. I squeezed through a gap in the fence and padded out. A flesh-eater was off in the distance, stumbling about. The suns' rays shone down brightly on the grass ahead. LightClan territory was the best, and I missed running in the long heather, chasing rabbits and feeling the breeze blow through my pelt.

Twoleg flesh-eaters were moaning behind me, in the Twoleg nest. Did they smell me? I wondered, peeking under the hole in the fence again. Poppyhearts' scent lingered in it and a tuft of Lilypatchs' fur was stuck on the jagged edge. There was no Twoleg flesh-eaters nor anything lurking around in the Twolegplace.

I backed back out and turned around. The coast was still clear. I padded away, determined to get moss. "I might as well catch some prey while I'm out." I muttered to myself, feeling pride for my idea. It was dangerous for sure, but it would be worth it. I could outrun those bags of meat anyway! 

Stalking through the long grass, my pelt burned as the sun hit me with its' hot rays. The grass may have been long, but it wasn't the best at shading anyone. I kept trekking through the grass, heading toward SpiritClan's old territory. Once I crossed into the forest, I was greeted by shade and more comfort. As much as I loved the wind in my fur and the wide open space, I also loved the shade the forest provided. Then there was DarkClan with their marsh. It was mucky and it stank, but it was water. And water was cold.

I found moss easily in the forest, though my pads weren't too used to the prickly grounds. I kept stepping on pine cones, pine needles and dead, spiky leaves. On second thought, I think I'll stick with the moor. It has less... spiky stuff to deal with. 

I headed through the moor again, keeping low and silent. Avoiding the one flesh-eater that was still on its own and in the very center of the moor, I spotted a medium sized puddle just behind him, one of the few we had in our territory. I still had the bundle of moss in my jaws and I was determined to get water for everyone. Maybe hunting is something I will have to wait for, but right now everyone is going to need water.

Slowing down, I took weary steps to keep myself hidden from the flesh-eaters blind gaze. It groaned to it self, as if it was talking in a different language. I loosened my grip on the moss and didn't take my eyes off the gory, torn up, rotting flesh-eater.

Its right ear was torn completely off, the left was cut up and bleeding. Dried blood around rotting flesh was almost everywhere. There was so much blood, I couldn't tell if the cat was originally white or grey. A bloody crust around the back of its neck made it obvious where the infection started. I recognized the cat as I stared. It was a DarkClan cat, a name like... Hushpaw or Thrushpaw. 

It didn't matter anymore, though, since he was dead and didn't recognize his own name. 

My paw sunk deep into a mucky hole and my eyes shot toward it. I had stepped into where the puddle used to be. Even with the rain, the puddle had shrunken almost half of its original size. I tried not to gasp, since the growling flesh-eater was just tail-lengths away. Muddy or not, it'll have to do! I let out a sigh and slowly stepped into the mud.

The brown liquid seeped into my leg fur and felt weird and nice at the same time. A moaning sound from in front of me made me stop. Two more flesh-eaters were on their way over, so close to each other their fur was almost brushing as they stumbled.

I tried to lift my first paw out, but it had sunken so deep inside that it had gotten stuck. My breathing started to speed up with anxiety, my heart racing. What do I do? What do I do!? I pulled frantically and finally yanked it out of the mud. It made an awkward sound but I hardly noticed. I took quick steps and drenched the moss into the water. I looked toward the two flesh-eaters. 

They heard me! I almost yelped with fear. I stepped back but my hind legs were knee-deep in mud. The first flesh-eater was hurrying toward me. I held my breath and shot forward, into the knee deep puddle. Another flesh-eater was coming toward me. Four flesh-eaters groaned and staggered toward me, their tails drooping and their heads hanging low as if the muscle couldn't support it any longer.

I swallowed and drenched the moss again. Dashing out of the water, I hopped so my paws didn't sink too far down. I had trouble getting out with the water trying to resist me and with the mud underneath me.

I let out a loud growl, coming deep from my throat, and leaped as far as I could. I just missed the grassy land with one paw. That one paw sunk farther down into the mud than any of the other times. Two of the flesh-eaters had tripped over their own sunken paws and fallen into the mud while the other two - one that had wandered over and the first one - still made their way toward me.

Frantically, I moved my paw up and down, kicking, but it only seemed to make it worse. The two were almost a tail-length away and I let out a screech as I yanked my paw free with all of my energy. I rolled about two tail-lengths away, the moss still grasped in my teeth.

I stood up but the muddy paw wouldn't hold me up. Pain surged through me and I let out another scream. The scream lasted for several heartbeats. My paw was twisted at an awkward angle, toward the left. My toes were bent. I breathed quickly and held my leg up as I limped toward the fence.

"I have... to... get back!" I whimpered as I clenched my teeth together so hard that my jaw kinked.