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    Inside, the place was deathly quiet. She pointed the torch to the centre of the room, finding the cages. Ellis squinted against the light’s glare, but she couldn’t see Ginger. She couldn’t see any of the cats.
    She walked over to the cages, giving them closer examination. They were open, like someone had hacked their way through the little door catches.
    Ellis swept the entire room with the torch. Nothing. “Ginger?” she called.
    The screeching noise again.
    It was coming from the next room, where the birds lived.
    Ellis pushed the door to the bird’s house, peering in.
    She was scared. God, that was ridiculous when she thought about it. She’d tackled Dead Jenkins (hell, she’d tackled Johnson both alive and dead!). Hardly much to fear from a few chickens. Still Ellis held back, her torch doing a cursory sweep of the room before she stepped inside.
    The room was a mess. There was chicken feed everywhere. The remains of its packaging lay strewn across the floor, like someone had ransacked the place.
    Ellis felt her grip on the torch tighten.
    She moved towards the middle of the room. Her eyes narrowed, struggling against the glare of the torch as she leaned in closer to the cages. Seemed like there was something inside.
    Her hand rose to her mouth as she realised what she was looking at. Chicken skeletons, flesh cleaned from their bones, littered each cage. Ellis looked back to the floor, this time noticing feathers, caught up within the birdseed and ripped packaging.
    “Oh God...” she whispered.
    There was movement everywhere. Black shadows bled out from the walls and ceiling, falling upon her.
    Ellis dropped to the floor, losing hold of the torch. She could feel what seemed like a hundred claws and teeth ripping and tearing at her skin, the screeching noise from before now deafening. She couldn’t move, completely overwhelmed by her attackers, pain surging through her body.
    Something grabbed her, started to pull her away. Ellis struggled against it, still screaming, still hurting as those little teeth continued to tear at her flesh.
    She found herself in the corridor.
    “Get up!” she heard a voice cry. “You have to move!” Ellis allowed her eyes to open, finding the corridor filled with small, dark creatures.
    Were those things... cats?!
    The figure of a tall man wearing a yellow suit and mask stood over her, tearing the cats from her body. She heard some shots as her suited saviour disposed of the damn things with his handgun.
    “Run!” he shouted.
    They retreated down the corridor.
    Her bones and muscles ached, but Ellis kept going, bounding down C2 and along C3, a torch on the suited man’s headgear pouring out light.
    There was a sign dead ahead. The masked figure turned, taking the walkway that led out of the research area towards the canteen.
    They both tumbled through the double doors in front of them. Once in, the suited man pushed a long, sturdy table up against the unsecured entrance.
    Ellis watched in fear as the cats leapt at the glass, desperate to get in, but the blockade held tight.
    She had petted those things, fed them from her hand, given them names. Now they were feral killers.
    No, more than that ...
    Ellis looked again at their eyes. Those were dead eyes. She knew what dead eyes looked like, and that’s what was staring at her through the canteen door window.
    The masked figure stood opposite her, blocking her view.
    “Are you hurt?” he said. It was a gruff voice, muffled through the breathing apparatus.
    Ellis looked down at her arms. She hadn’t thought about it until now but as she looked at the long bloody scratches, they started to smart. She ran her fingers across her face, finding more painful lacerations.
    She looked at her hands, which were covered in blood.
    She started laughing. At first it was nervous laughter, but then came full-blown mania.
    The masked stranger seemed baffled.
    “Bloody cats!” was all she could manage, looking once more to the