The little tabby cat had lived in Zone Seven for a long time. The plum blossoms often seen in the snow were its paw prints, and the flecks of blood and feathers were traces of its masterpieces of slaughter. One could even say it was the overlord of this area.
Until last night, when everything changed.
The change in the aura between heaven and earth filled it with extreme unease. It did not even dare return to its nest in the bicycle shed to sleep, nor did it dare leave. It climbed a birch tree and spent the night trembling with fear. Then, just as the morning light illuminated the world, it saw an utterly terrifying sight.
Those field mice, those bugs, those cicadas-all the things that had once been its food-had become things it did not recognize, giving off a strange and terrifying aura. Those stray dogs, those cats kept in other people's homes, those cats it had once fought had all become such things too. Now even the tree it was hiding in seemed about to come alive, and that bird... Since when had birds become such terrifying things!
Little Tabby Cat knew it would surely die if this continued. Its instinctive fear gave rise to a rare burst of courage. It poked out through the sparse leaves and let out a faintly trembling, deeply pitiful meow toward the family in the building opposite.
It knew that family was not ordinary.
It had seen with its own eyes that strange cicada kill a powerful human.
It knew the boy who liked wearing a blue tracksuit liked it.
That was why it had not left last night.
Hearing the cat's cry, Flower Creek walked to the window and looked out. Her pretty face instantly paled, and she