They did not know.
Poor creatures. Was not life hard enough?
One hid beneath the alpha’s place of sticks, on the warm box. One contemplated, eyes half closed and paws curled in. One finally concluded that the humans did not scent Death’s approach and therefore could not prepare, could not anticipate. One wondered at their deficiencies.
“Bastet, you okay?”
One blinked to see the alpha leaning down, staring beneath into one’s place of concealment. One was warmed by her concern and emerged with a long stretch and a loud purr, to offer reassurance.
For the Lady is a Guardian, and She had placed one here to serve. Disruption was not to be tolerated. One now knew one’s task and was prepared.
So it was that the next time the scent of Death was on the air, one perched on the corner of the softness, where the human in question lay. One waited, patiently.
In walked one of the humans, with their things, and expressed surprise at this one’s presence.
One howled. Loudly. Not the soft greeting, not the cry of anger, no this was the yowl of attention, the lower note that carried a warning.
“Lord in heaven, what’s wrong?”
“Sophie, what was the noise?” In walked the alpha, as one had hoped.
“I have no idea. I walked in to get Ms. Martin’s temperature, and Bastet howled to wake the dead.”
“Then why isn’t Ms. Martin awake?”
Their attention focused on the human in the softness. It was but a moment before the alpha spoke. “Call the Doctor, Sophie. I think Ms. Martin is starting to slip away from us.”
Satisfied, one jumped down and padded from the room.
In this regard one served for some time, but eventually the mere fact that one was perched on the edge of the softness was enough to let those who also served know that Death stalked. Once in a great while, they fought back. But for the most part, death was welcomed and the warning gratefully received. With time to prepare, all was orderly. There was still sorrow, to be sure. But life is sorrow, even for a human.
So, one served, and served well.
Until one night, Death appeared with no warning, glaring at this one. “What do you think you are doing?”
One half opened an eye to contemplate Him. As the Lady took the guise of a cat, so this one took the guise of a human, dressed in black and pale. One did not even twitch a whisker.
“One serves.”
“Well, you can damn well stop.”
One rose and stretched slowly, carefully, and then settled in to groom one’s nether regions.
“Cats.” Death said in disgust, and disappeared.
The laughter of the Lady Guardian sounded deep within in one’s head.
One continued to groom, smugly.
So it was, that the pattern of life was restored. The alpha praised this one, and there was a new food, called treats, and that was well.
Others came and made a fuss over this one, but one fled them and their “cameras” and “microphones.” One was not amused. One had a task. The alpha sent them away.
Outside, the leaves emerged, and one watched as the prey danced outside the glass, young and old alike. One felt no need to hunt but would occasionally make the hunting sounds and bat the glass, scattering those without. It served no purpose to allow prey to become complacent.
Nor can one become complacent about Death. He is everywhere and nowhere, and one should have remembered that. It was not just the humans lying in softness that needed warning.
One blames oneself for one’s failing, but the scent grew over time, creeping in as prey rots. Until finally the odor was too strong to be ignored.
But this scent lay on the alpha.
One sat straight up at the realization and fixed the alpha with a stare. This was not one who lay in softness, yet the scent was there, unmistakable. Warning must be given, but would she comprehend?
One leaped to her place, ignored the sticks that lay about, and padded over. The alpha was staring at her box. “You hungry, Bastet? I’ll feed you in just a minute. I have to get these reports out-”
One yowled.
The Alpha’s head jerked around to stare at one, her dark eyes wide. “Bastet, what’s wrong? Who-?”
One yowled again, staring at her intently, with a soft prayer to the Lady Guardian that this human would fall within her protection. The sound that rose from this one’s throat grew more anxious, for the alpha was respected and admired. Let Death stalk elsewhere.
The alpha’s eyes grew thoughtful. She reached for her phone, speaking of lumps ignored and an appointment. She grabbed up her things, turned off her box, and left.
One batted at the sticks, arranged the papers to one’s satisfaction, and settled for a nap. One had done what one could do.
Death appeared.
One opened one’s eyes and contemplated the man, all in black, glaring at oneself. Had he been a cat, his back would have been arched, ears flat. “You go too far.”
“Are you prey?” one demanded.
“What?” Death hissed.
“Are you prey, to leave your scent markings so clear and make the hunt easy?” One flicked an ear. “Lazy, foolish prey, easily tracked and seen. No wonder-”
“SILENCE,” the man thundered.
One yawned, displaying all one’s teeth, unimpressed and uncaring.
“Cats.” Death snarled, and vanished.
One stood, stretched and circled down to nap. The hunt would be more challenging now, the scent harder to find. It was well. None should become complacent.
Even Death.
The Lady Guardian’s satisfied purr filled one’s ears as one drifted off to sleep.
THE PERSIAN, THE COON, AND BULLETS by Matthew Woodring Stover
She was screaming. She’d been screaming for a while already. I’d been hearing her since Farside of Leaper’s Bridge, so naturally by the time I made it to Knifewall, there was already a pretty good mob. It took me longer than usual, because I had to make a wide detour around a human gun fight-the Same Clothes People and the Calico People, at it again, as usual-and around the blast zone of the Calicoes’ exploder, where there was too much fire and stink even for a hardened street tom like me.
She had a serious voice, one I’d been able to hear even through the humans’ shouts and shooting, and I was a long way from the only one listening; the mob at Knifewall was the biggest I’d ever seen-I knew maybe only half the cats there, maybe less. She was pulling them in from all over the Zone.
“I’m hungry! It’s cold out here! Where are you? I’m hunnnnngry!”
I spotted the Coon lounging in a weedy shadow near Knifewall’s sunside corner, wiping his face with a spit-wet paw. He saw me looking and yawned. I shouldered through the crowd to the base of the wall so I’d have some shade on my way over. Nobody gave me more than a courtesy hiss. The cats who didn’t know me took their cue from the ones who did, and got the hell out of my way.
“Hey, Coon.” I settled into the weeds just out of reach. The Coon and I had a pretty good understanding, but there was no sense taking foolish chances.
He kept washing. “Drags. You want something here?”
This was as close to a respectful greeting as anybody ever got from the Coon. He didn’t even have a name; everybody called him the Coon because that’s what he was, a Maine Coon, more than half bobcat, fully four times the size of your average street tom. He was a legend in the Zone. He and I had gone some rounds back when I was a little younger and a lot stupider, and while he had given better than he got-he’s near enough twice my size, and I’m a big damn cat-he still carried a scar or two with my name on them. I liked to think he had some respect for me. But I was probably kidding myself.
When I was younger, I used to dream that maybe the Coon was my sire. Getting my belly good and ripped cured me of any pretensions to noble lineage. He’d made it clear that if I’d been his kit, he’d have snatched me out from under my dam and eaten my head. And he might have been telling the truth. The rumor was he’d done it before. Rumor was, he never let a tom kit live. And, y’know, that was okay with pretty much everybody.