Apocalyptic Crazy Kitty

Chapter 3: Cats Just Have to Crawl into Cardboard Boxes

“Roar—” The skeleton zombie let out a delighted roar and leaped forward, hurtling toward Zuo Chen like a cannonball. Behind him, dozens of zombies swarmed forward, howling in unison. Although they’d thoroughly enjoyed their main course, they wouldn’t mind a little dessert. Damn it! Do they have to look so hungry when they see me?! As Zuo Chen cursed furiously in his mind, he frantically hopped up and down to press the elevator button. Since he wasn’t tall enough, he had to keep jumping, looking like an oversized yellow ball of yarn—which only whetted the zombies’ appetites even more, causing foul saliva streaked with blood to drip onto the floor. The elevator’s alloy doors slowly closed, and just as the skeleton zombie was less than a meter from the entrance, the doors snapped shut completely. “Boom!” A loud crash echoed as the skeleton zombie slammed into the elevator doors. Fortunately, the elevator had already started moving, carrying Zuo Chen back the way they came. “Roar—” The skeletal zombie’s frustrated roar echoed from below. Though clever, it didn’t know how to use the elevator; it had only ever led the other zombies up the stairs to reach the underground lab, and now it was helpless. Seeing that he’d narrowly escaped, Zuo Chen plopped right down on the floor, rubbed his belly with both front paws, and let out a long sigh. That was close—I almost ended up as Orange Cat sashimi… Although there hadn’t been a direct confrontation, judging by that skeleton zombie’s speed, he wouldn’t have stood a chance—not to mention the dozens of ordinary zombies. With his current strength, he could handle two or three zombies at a time, but if he were surrounded, his only option would be to run for his life. Coming in here so recklessly was really a bit rash. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to get his hands on those vaccines and experimental data for the time being; he’d just have to come up with another plan. “Gurgle… gurgle…” His stomach growled—he was hungry again. He sneaked back into the kitchen once more and devoured the remaining rations in one go. Sitting on the floor, Zuo Chen rubbed his stomach and stared into space. What should I do? I can’t win in a fight—I’m just a kitty… Ugh, ugh, ugh! Why has my whole cat persona turned so campy since I turned into a cat? I’m just a cat! Taking a deep breath, Zuo Chen began to analyze his current situation. Environment: A post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. Disadvantages: I’ve turned into a cat; I can’t speak and can’t communicate with humans. I don’t know what kind of virus is inside me or how to return to human form. Plus, I burn through energy extremely quickly, get hungry very easily, and have to eat a huge amount every two hours. Advantages: Cats are more agile than humans, so my chances of survival are higher. My strength, speed, and burst power are all superior, and I have sharp bone claws and razor-sharp teeth. Plus… I’m pretty cute. Must retrieve the vaccine and documents from Level 5 underground—the cold storage is there as well. But first, you have to take out all those zombies down there! He needs to boost his strength and get weapons! Not to mention, the problem of having to eat every two hours needs to be solved first—otherwise, if he ever runs out of food, he’ll end up digesting himself. Plus, the food left in the kitchen now—to put it bluntly—is so scarce that every single morsel counts. Carrying his pack, he peered cautiously out the second-floor window—the streets were swarming with zombies. The sounds of battle from the research institute had once drawn a massive horde of zombies, but they were now slowly dispersing. He couldn’t just sit here and let his supplies run out; he had to find more food first, while also adapting to his new body as quickly as possible. Climbing out the window, Zuo Chen crawled along the windowsill and soon reached the power lines. He then carefully climbed along the wires to the building across the street and continued crawling along the windowsill. Fortunately, the power grid was completely down; otherwise, if an electrical leak had occurred halfway through his climb, he would’ve been electrocuted and turned into a Pikachu. “Meow (you)! Meow (good)!” “Meow (Zuo)! Meow (Chen)!” “Meow-Miao-Miao!” As he climbed, Zuo Chen practiced speaking by meowing, and although his voice drew constant growls and leaps from the zombies on the street, he wasn’t the least bit worried. That’s the perk of turning into a cat—at least he can climb power lines and isn’t afraid of the zombies scratching him at all. “Miao, Si, Miao, Miao (I won’t take that)!” After practicing for a while, something surprising happened: first, he was able to adjust his pitch, and then he could actually utter vague, indistinct words. Even if they were still indistinct, they were no longer just cat meows—and this filled him with delight. “Meow-si-zi-fa-sen-meow-meow-meow-meow-jin (I am a blue whale incarnated as a deserted island)…” Overcome with joy, he couldn’t help but burst into song—singing was surely a better way to hone his cat skills than just speaking. Before he could finish the song, he stopped at the entrance of a small convenience store. He had reached his destination. He peeked inside the convenience store and saw only a few figures staggering about. Hmm, no mutated zombies. Zuo Chen carefully climbed down from the power lines and slipped inside through the shattered glass door. There were only three zombies inside, but the shelves were bare, with very little left. When the biohazard crisis first broke out, a massive riot erupted in the city. People frantically looted supermarkets and stores, desperate to escape the city. However, most of them didn’t make it out alive. Zuo Chen’s arrival immediately caught the attention of the three zombies, which had been swaying like scarecrows but now lunged toward him. “Why are you eating cute kitties?!” Zuo Chen shouted angrily, tossing his pack to the ground. He extended his bone claws, leaped onto one zombie’s head, and skillfully plunged his claws into its throat before yanking and twisting backward. The sound of flesh being sliced through echoed, and the zombie’s head was instantly severed. Without waiting for the headless corpse to fall, Zuo Chen leaped onto the shoulder of the second zombie and repeated the process, then moved on to the last one. In just a few seconds, all three zombies had been reduced to headless corpses. The orange-yellow figure landed lightly, shook the blood off its bone claws, and retracted them back into the furry ball of flesh. A feeling of hunger began to set in. He had already noticed that while things were fine when he wasn’t moving much, any strenuous activity—like combat—seemed to accelerate his energy consumption many times over, making him hungry much faster. On the convenience store shelves, there was now only one can of fruit, one can of beef, and two packs of Master Kong braised beef instant noodles left in the corner; the rest were just a few empty cardboard boxes. Seeing these items, Zuo Chen felt an uncontrollable craving well up from the depths of his heart! He immediately scurried over to a small cardboard box, lifted his leg to step inside, then reached all four paws in and curled up as he squeezed himself deeper into it. Finally, the small cardboard box was filled to the brim, with not a single gap left. The plump Orange Cat sat contentedly inside and let out a sigh of satisfaction. “Meow, that’s nice…” Cats just have to crawl into cardboard boxes!