1c8c0f371c0d914159db2df0bf94b5c6

And then he smiled and sank down on his knees.“Thank you, God, for protecting me from the zombie apocalypse. Thank you for not allowing them to turn me into one of their own.”

Praise the Lord. He’d been saved! It was nothing short of a miracle. And as a jubilant ecstasy suddenly filled him, he decided to spread the word. If he could be saved by his faith, so could others. And then he was off on his mission.

Chapter 26

“Max, look!”

I looked, and saw that Dooley had managed to open the hatch in his cage.

“It opened and so I thought I’d try to stick my paw in and it didn’t close.”

“Must be some sort of safety mechanism,” I said. “To prevent pets from getting hurt. Can you pass through?”

He stuck his head in and easily slipped through and was now on top of his cage.

“Yay,” he said. “I escaped!”

“Well done, Dooley,” I said.

“Now you try, Max. It’s easy. You start with your head, and the rest just follows.”

I wasn’t absolutely convinced of the wisdom of his words. Dooley is easily half my size, or even less, and that hatch didn’t look all that big to me.

“I’ll give it a shot,” said Tigger, and within moments he was out, too. Soon the others all followed suit, and even Harriet and Brutus managed to sneak through that hatch without a hitch.

They were all encouraging me to give it a shot, but unfortunately things had gone wrong from the first. I’d managed to pry open the hatch but the moment I put my head in I’d gotten stuck, and there was no way I was able to perform the rare feat they’d all pulled off with such practiced ease.

“You go on without me, you guys,” I said. “Get out of here and tell Odelia to come rescue me, will you?”

“Just a little push, Max,” said Harriet, as she grabbed hold of my head and tugged.

Brutus now joined in the escape attempt and tried to pry my head loose from its parent body.

“Ouch,” I said. “Easy with the claws.”

“How else can I get purchase?” he asked, quite reasonably too, I thought. Still, I could do without the acupuncture session.

In the end they had to admit defeat. My head might have gotten through all right, but the rest of my body refused to follow.

“I don’t understand,” said Dooley. “When your head fits, the rest should fit, too. That’s the rule.”

“Well, I guess I just broke the rule,” I said.

“It’s because Max has a weird body shape,” said Brutus. “His head is smaller than the rest of his body.”

“Look, just go,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”

“It’s not his head that’s small,” said Harriet. “His head is quite big.”

“I didn’t say his head was small,” said Brutus. “I said it’s smaller than the rest.”

They stared down at me.“Mh,” said Harriet. “I think the problem is his gut.”

“Just go already!” I said, not comfortable being objectified like this.

“We’re not leaving you, Max,” said Harriet.

“You have to leave me,” I said. “I’ll be all right. I have plenty of food and water, and knowing you’re all safe and sound will get me through this ordeal.”

I’d managed to retract my head and was back inside my little cage, while my friends debated their next course of action. Finally they had to agree that leaving me behind was probably the best option.

“We’ll come back for you,” said Dooley, as he reached a paw into my cage and I touched mine against his. “I don’t like this, Max. I don’t like leaving you behind.”

“It’s just for a little while,” I said. “Now you go and get help. I’ll be right here waiting.”

Of course I was. What else was I going to do?

And then they were off, watched by dozens of pets. More pets had managed to squeeze through the hatches, but only the smaller ones. The big ones, like yours truly, were well and truly stuck, and would remain that way until the cavalry would show up in the form of Odelia.

I just hoped they wouldn’t be long, as I was starting to get a little claustrophobic in my temporary lodgings.

[Êàðòèíêà: img_3]

“I really don’t like leaving him behind,” Dooley repeated. “I really don’t. Isn’t there something we can do to get him out of there?”

“Not unless you have a way of unlocking those cages, Dooley,” said Harriet.

“There has to be a way to get that mechanism to snap open,” said Brutus. “Maybe there’s a control room or something? A way to open those cages remotely?”

The large warehouse-type space where the cages were located was indeed monitored, with a camera in every cage. So it surprised Dooley that no one had dropped by to stop their escape attempt. Maybe no one was watching? Or the guard keeping an eye on them had gone for a bathroom break? Whatever the case, they had managed to get this far, and now all they needed to do was get out of the building and find their way home.

The small troupe of pets proceeded in the direction of a large bay door that was, of course, closed.