Like most horror fans, I’d seen a lot of zombie movies. The ones based on chemical and biological warfare, the ones where some evil entity pulls them up from the grave, you name it. If it existed, then there was a strong chance that I’d seen it.

Despite all that, words couldn’t describe the terror that gripped my gut. Without a moment’s hesitation, I’d rushed to stand in front of the girls when I realized something wasn’t right. I pushed between them, and then my feet rooted to the ground, frozen to the spot.

“What the—” My breath hitched, my body shook.

Catgirls, actual dozens of catgirls stood before us, stares screwed on our faces. Their vacant eyes searched us lazily, their mouths hung open—or, for some of them, what remained of their jaws. Old scabs pocked their greyed skin. Bits of bone and sinew poked out of crevices and gaps in ways they weren’t meant to. Dark stains of blood covered their bodies in varying patterns, from splotches, to streaks, to speckles.

It was one thing to watch zombie movies. Quite another to experience one.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt something wrap itself around my arm. I looked down and to my left to see Cannoli. Her teeth chattered, her lips quivered. There was a look in her eyes I’d never seen. It wasn’t fear or fright—it was despair, unparalleled horror. Her grip tightened around me. She tried to speak, but mere clicks and squeaks came out instead.

“There’s no fucking way,” Ravyn whispered somewhere to my right. “I-I can’t burn this many.”

“F-f… [Fire Ball]!” Tristan was standing just behind me when he called out the attack.

I ended up pushing Cannoli backward and away from us, narrowly dodging the ball of flame myself. Cannoli and I fell to the ground together, and I covered her with my body. Tristan’s attack must’ve made direct contact—a miniature explosion detonated to our left. I just had to hope it was a clump of the zombies.

“Are you okay?” I screamed over my ringing ears.

Cannoli forced a slow, shaky nod of her head.

I turned back around to see two of the zombies were now on fire, indifferent to their circumstances. They looked at each other with blank stares, then back to us.

“Idiot!” Ravyn bellowed. “Do you want to take the fucking awning and the house down as well and burn us all to a crisp?” Ravyn grabbed hold of Tristan by the collar and shook him hard.

“Fucking idiot, squawwwwk!”

Ah, the wrath of Ravyn emerges.

“I-I’m sorry! Undead are weak to fire, though, right?” Tristan stammered.

“Do you see how many of them there are, you fucking twit?” Ravyn shrieked. “Do they look weak to fire to you?” She gestured wildly at the indifferent girls.

“Food,” one of the zombified catgirls mumbled.

Silence fell over us.

“Oh, Saoirse,” Keke muttered, taking a step back toward the house.

“I would never advise this,” Ara said with her hand on Tristan’s shoulder, “but we should retreat back inside. Please, Ravyn, let go of the young master. We need to move. Right now.”

An undead catgirl with a ribbon in her hair stepped forward, muttering the same word, “Food.” Another stepped forward, and another yet.

“Fuck!” I hurried to a stand, pulling Cannoli back up to her feet by her wrists. “Ara’s right. Let’s get back inside!”

Ara led the charge and was the first one inside. Ravyn and Tristan were next with Desiree following closely behind. After Keke was inside, I swung my arm underneath Cannoli’s legs and carried her, bridal-style, back into the house.

“We’re going to die! Close the fucking door! Squawwwwwk!”

Ravyn plucked the bird from her shoulder and held him in her hands, screaming, “There is no door, dumbass!”

“There!” Keke yelled, pointing to an open trapdoor.

Oh, yes. There’s no way anything bad is in there. No, not at all. Might as well run right back out into the catgirl horde.

“I don’t like it, but we don’t have a choice,” Ara said in agreement as if reading my hesitation.

“M-Matt,” Cannoli’s soft voice came.

“It’s going to be okay. Just hang on. We’ll get out of here.”

“T-turn me around.”

“What?”

“Please!” she squeaked.

This is stupid. This is so very stupid.

I did as she asked and turned back toward the catgirl army. The others had already gone into safety underneath the trapdoor, screaming at us to hurry and get inside. Standing still against a horde of zombies went against my better judgment, but I had to trust that Cannoli knew what she was doing.

“[Blessed Light]!” Cannoli held out her hand, and the room was suddenly blanketed in a blinding white light.

The undead moaned and groaned, the sudden shock sending a few of them to fall to the ground in twitching fits. Some of them managed to continue standing but wandered in a blinded stupor, chewing on anything their hands could find. The zombies behind them outside of Cannoli’s cast range clawed their way over the first line of defense, snarling their frustrations at the roadblock.

I turned back to the trapdoor and rushed down the staircase, never turning around until Cannoli and I were well below the ground. I set her safely to the side as Keke and Ara reached for a pair of straps and yanked the door down, sliding the locking mechanism into place.

The thumping and crunching of bodies landing on top of the door made me visibly jump. I wondered if the door would hold. Ara and Keke stepped down, joining the rest of us, and we all watched in anticipation to see if the door would hold. How could we fight a horde that large? Tristan hadn’t battled anything in years, Ravyn had admitted it was too much for even her, and I wasn’t sure if I could tank forty pairs of teeth gnawing away at my flesh.

The sounds began to fade. When the thumping at last stopped, Tristan fell to his knees in a sob.

“I-I’m so sorry,” he said. “That was so stupid of me.”

Desiree purred and approached. She licked at his cheek, nuzzling her cheek against his.

“Y-you’re so sweet,” he whimpered.

Cannoli wrapped her arms around my neck, and soon she also began to cry. I wanted to say something, anything I could think of to comfort her. But we weren’t out yet. I held her tighter and rested my cheek atop her head.

“Young Master,” Ara said, kneeling to lay a hand on his shoulder, “please, you were only doing what you thought was best. You tried to protect us, and for that, I am grateful.”

“Yeah… great fucking job,” Ravyn muttered just loud enough for us to hear.

Shit. Now is not the time, Ravyn.

“Can we please just be grateful that we’re alive,” Keke reasoned to Ravyn.

With Cannoli still sobbing against my chest, I turned to meet Ravyn’s glare. I shook my head. Ravyn clicked her tongue and kicked away a nearby pebble. “Shit, this place reeks of dark magic.”

“More importantly,” Keke continued while looking around, “where are we?”

“An old cellar?” I asked.

“Likely so,” Ara said, looking around to survey the area, “though they’re usually this large.” Ara tilted her head to look past me, then turned her upper half around to look behind her. She sucked through her teeth. “It looks like it goes on forever.”

“You may be right,” Keke said with a half-smile. “Even with [Low-Light Vision], I can’t see a definitive end. But we should find something to spark a light with. That way, I’m not the only one who can see.”

“I-I—” Cannoli stammered. “L-let me.”

“Cannoli, are you sure? Ravyn could light a stick of wood or something.”

Cannoli rubbed her face against me in protest. “—me help,” I could barely hear her say. “Let me help,” she repeated.

“I’m gonna let you go, okay?” I had a feeling I knew where she was going with this, but I’d need my [Cat Pack]. I gently released her and untied the strings around my [Cat Pack], reaching into it for my axe. Once I’d found it, I held it out with the blade facing down. “Light me up.”

“[Illuminate],” she whispered with her hand to the flat-end of the blade.

Within moments the blade glowed brilliantly with a soft white light. The finer details of the cellar were starting to come in, and now that I could see it better, it was less of a basement and more of an expansive cave.

“I believe this is an emergency exit,” Ara said in a low voice as she stood up. She wore a fierce look and balled her hands. “This place should lead us to the coast.”

I turned one way, then the other. “Which way?”

Ara shook her head. “I do not know.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Ravyn said sarcastically. “Well, it’s not doing us any good just standing here. Let’s get the hell out. Preferably before the zombies waiting to munch on us learn how to open a door.”

“At last, we can agree on something,” Ara said with an equally ugly look.

Tristan found his way back to his feet, taking deep breaths and wiping what remained of his tears. His cheeks and eyes were red as a beet.“I’m sorry. Forgive me.” He bowed his head, his features still quivering. “I should’ve known better.”

Cannoli left me and came to his side. “It’s okay,” she said in a soft voice, “we all make mistakes. What’s important is we learn from them. Right?”

Tristan looked at her with his mouth agape. I thought he was going to cry again, but instead, he furrowed his brow and raised his head to look at her directly. “You’re absolutely right.” He breathed through his nose and brought his attention to Ara, a determined look on his face. “Let’s keep going. The sooner we can get out, the better.”

Ara’s face eased, and a smile made its eventual arrival. “Yes, Young Master.”

Ball Gag was quiet.

Ravyn glared at Ball Gag, then sighed. “I’m going to die an early death, aren’t I?”

As much as I wanted to smile, I knew this wasn’t over. I turned the path opposite and stared. I couldn’t help but feel that this had been part of the overall plan. Something, someone was luring us down here. Ravyn’s feelings had always been spot-on until now. Venicia was its own can of worms, but to see Ravyn shiver and panic the way she did was… unsettling.

This isn’t where it ends, is it?