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“I guess we better do as they say,” I said. “And then maybe we’ll get another reward.”

“Hey, don’t leave us here!” said Harriet. “Brutus, snuggle bug! Don’t leave me!”

“I’m not leaving you, snuggle pooh. I’m simply trying to get out of here so I can get help,” said Brutus, as he approached his mate and they shared a quick cuddle.

“I’ll be back,” I promised my friends.

“I know you will, Max!” said Dooley. “Go get them, tiger!”

And so Brutus and I both set paw for the respective rabbits.

We were literally going down a rabbit hole…

Chapter 31

Vesta had run into an alleyway. She didn’t mind soldiers but she did mind being shot at. When she looked back, she saw they were hot in pursuit, so she decided to hide in one of the dumpsters. With some effort, she managed to clamber into one, and settled in for the duration. The thing was stinking something real foul, but at least shewas safe.

What was happening to this town? Zombies chasing innocent women all around the park at night, soldiers taking potshots at senior citizens, and people running off and disappearing on her for no good reason!

“Wait till I tell my son,” she murmured. “He’ll throw you lot in jail so fast!”

The dumpster suddenly opened and someone peered in. But Vesta had taken the precaution of hiding underneath some pizza boxes and soon the dumpster closed again.

“Not in here!” the man shouted.

“Pass along,” Vesta muttered. “Nothing to see here.”

She waited a while longer, and then decided that the coast was probably clear by now, and carefully lifted the dumpster lid to peer out. Glancing left, then right, she saw that she was all alone in the alleyway, and climbed out of her hiding place.

“What are you doing?” suddenly asked a voice from underneath the dumpster. She was startled, but quickly recovered when she discovered the voice belonged to an old friend of the family: Clarice. The feral cat was munching on a fishbone and gave Vesta a curious look. She looked as ratty and mangy as usual, but at least she wasn’t equipped with a gun and wouldn’t try and shoot her.

“Am I glad to see you,” said Vesta, getting down and taking a seat. “Some guys dressed as soldiers tried to shoot me, can you imagine? I think this whole town has gone mad.”

“They weren’t dressed like soldiers. They were real soldiers. The town is overrun with them. They’re here to take care of that zombie problem you’re all facing.”

“Zombie problem? You mean…”

“Hampton Cove is on lockdown, and they’ve been carting people off to some camp, and shooting zombies with tranq guns.”

“Huh,” said Vesta, wondering if that was what they’d tried to shoot her with. “I don’t look like a zombie, do I?” she asked now, picking a stray banana peel from her hair.

“Yeah, you do, a bit,” said Clarice, “but then to me all humans look like zombies, and all zombies look like humans. You all look pretty much the same as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well, this is a fine mess I find myself in,” Vesta grumbled. “So the town is locked down, and all of my family, friends and neighbors picked up. Where does that leave me?”

“To be shot down as a zombie,” Clarice said. “Want a fishbone?”

“No, thanks. I have plenty of food at home, thank you very much.”

“Where are your cats?”

“Oh, they’re at some place called the Peppard Pet Food Company. Odelia took them there this morning so they’re quite safe.”

“No, they’re not,” said Clarice with a chortle. “That place is like a deathtrap for pets. They do all kinds of weird experiments. You’ll be glad if they make it out of there alive.”

“What do you mean, weird experiments?” she asked.

“Plenty of cats have passed through that place, and the stories aren’t pretty. They are subjected to all kinds of tests, act as guinea pigs for the Peppard Pet Food Company, and if they survive, their humans get free kibble for life, which isn’t a big gift, as their kibble tastes horrible.”

“But… why didn’t you tell Max and the others!”

“Nobody asked me!”

“Oh, crap. We better get them out of there before they get hurt.”

“No way, Granny. That place is like Fort Knox. No way in or out.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Vesta, a resolute look stealing over her face. She got up and started walking off. “Well? Are you coming or not?”

Clarice hesitated for a moment.“Oh, what the hell,” she finally said, and tripped after the septuagenarian.

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So I’d gone down the rabbit hole and I can safely say I came out the other side unscathed. Of course there was no rabbit to be found: the moment I entered the hole, the rabbit disappeared. On the other side another room awaited me, this one even nicer than the one before, with pictures of pets adorning the walls, and pet toys spread around. It started to resemble the room we’d entered when arriving in this so-called pet paradise.