Chapter 2

Melody fell back against the alley wall, blood soaked from all the scratch and bite wounds. She gasped for breath as she raised her head to look at her attacker. A strange giant spider thing loomed over her. It’s white, void like eyes bore into her soul. It made her feel disorientated looking into them for too long. Taking a deep breath she struggled back to her feet only to be slammed back once more by the creature. A large dark shadow engulphed the alleyway, a booming roar shattering the silence followed by a gunshot. The world went black.

*

Paws stood in disbelief at the scene he was witnessing. The hoard master, A monster that controlled and created zombies looming over a now bloody Melody. Rage flared within him; his body reacted before he could stop it. A loud booming roar escaped him. The creature turned in surprise. Hastily Paws drew his revolver, firing a warning shot in hopes of scaring the creature off. He really didn’t want to deal with this thing if he could help it. Loud screeching echoed through the alley as the creature tackled him, throwing them both into the street. Paws fought to gain his footing. His claws digging into the creature as he threw it off him. He let off another shot, this one directed at the monster. The bullet hit the hoard master directly in the chest. It stumbled back and laughed, a deep guttural sound. It went for Paws once more, this time swiping for his head. Paws dodged the first punch with ease but missed the second, taking a hit directly to the jaw. That was going to sting in the morning. ‘Fine.’ Paws thought to himself. ‘If that’s the way this thing wants it’ Paws holstered his gun and drew his claws, entering into close quarters with the hoard master. The monster smiled unnaturally wide showing all its hideously long teeth. Paws clawed at the creature’s face; it took a bite out of his shoulder. The cat howled in pain and kicked the creature away, flinging it as far from him as possible.

Sirens sounded in the distance, the hoard master gained its footing once more, turning to Paws with that unnatural smile.

“You should be running kitty cat. If you want to keep your friend alive that is” it mocked in a deep demonic tone before scaling the wall of a nearby building and disappearing from sight.

Shit.

Paws threw himself back down the alleyway to Melody’s side. That thing said IF, if he wanted to keep her alive. Meaning she wasn’t dead, and that creature had no interest in her. Scooping up the injured and bleeding human, Paws dashed down one of the adjacent alleyways and kept running. He had to keep them out of sight. If the cops got hold of her they’d send her straight to the incinerator. They wouldn’t risk a shambler roaming the streets.

More blue lights shone up ahead. Panicking, Paws turned back and kicked in the door to an abandoned residential building. The place had been used as a whore house back in the early days of the crime war, before the cops had got wind of it and the Don had to move his girls to another location. The place was in shambles now, torn to shreds and falling apart. Blanketed in shadow. A perfect place for a black cat to hide.

Quickly he bolted up the stairs as Several pairs of footsteps sounded behind him. He climbed to the upper floors, ducking inside one of the nearby rooms as the footsteps came closer.

Slamming the door behind him, he lay Melody on the ground and barricaded the door with what little he could. Once satisfied that was all he could do he scooped Melody up once more and jumped out of the adjacent window. He had to admit he was a little out of practice, but then again, climbing from window to roof would have been easier if he didn’t have a human weighing him down.

Scrambling to gain his footing he finally pulled himself up over the edge and onto the flat roof as the cops broke down the door to the room they had occupied moments before. Paws struggled to quiet his breaths, berrying his muzzle in Melody’s matted and bloody hair to smother the noise. Shouts could be heard beneath them. An officer stuck his head out the window and shouted down to someone below. Paws clenched his eyes shut, praying they wouldn’t be found. It would probably mean death for the both of them at this point. His heart raced as several moments passed.

Slowly the sound of footsteps and voices quieted. Opening his eyes, he shuffled closer to the edge of the roof to see car lights fading into the distance. A sigh escaped him and he eased them back down into the room they had come.    

*

Paws opened the door to his office awkwardly and kicked it closed behind him. Wasting no time he walked straight through to the back and down the basement stairs. Laying Melody down once more he lifted the rug covering the cellar floor. A trap door lay beneath it. Paws pried it open, scooped the human up and descended the dark staircase into the old underground railroad tunnels. It had been a while since he had to use these, but he guessed it would do for what he had in mind. Walking through to one of the makeshift cells he had constructed he lay Melody down, covering her with his coat to provide some warmth. Once satisfied he left, locking the cell behind him. He only took a few steps before exhaustion caught up with him. he slid down the adjacent wall to the cell and stared at the human. Whimpers and growls sounded as the human began to fidget beneath his coat. It was going to be a long night.