The sound of footsteps crept through the cabin, but soon vanished. Wolf’s ears stood up. A floorboard creaked, and he winced, knowing how close it was to his bedroom door. He ducked as the handle rattled. It turned and was followed by a slow creak as the door swung inward.

A short cloaked figure stood in the doorway, back-lit by the still open front door. Her arm was bent, threading through the handle of the wicker basket at her side.

“Did you not hear me calling, Grandma?” Little Red asked, stepping into the room. “When you didn’t answer, I was afraid something might have happened.”

Little Red stopped and looked towards the darkened floor, lifting each of her boots in turn.

“Grandma, I don’t remember you being such a slob. Your floor’s tacky and it smells something awful. Would it kill you to do some cleaning?”

Wolf canted his head as he looked at her. What the hell’s wrong with this girl?

The narrow column of light from the drawn curtains bisected the front of Little Red’s hood as she looked to the window. “The powers out, by the way,” she blurted. “Don’t suppose you know anything about that?”

“No—” Wolf said, then coughed at the sound of his throaty voice. “I’ve been in bed,” he continued in a higher pitch.

Little Red made her way to the window, then drew back the curtains as Wolf sunk deeper into the quilts. Her sixty-one-inch height and casual stance didn’t seem threatening, but Wolf’s eyes continued to follow her every move.

She turned back while standing in the room’s only source of light. With her fist set against her chest, a black fabric wrapped her knuckles and wrists where it contrasted the red of her chest. The basket dangled from the crook of her arm as she looked back at Wolf.

“I really don’t see how this was ever a great mystery,” she whispered, shaking her head.

“What do you mean, dear?” Wolf asked.

“Oh, you heard that, did you? Well, your hearing seems to get better with age.”

“Yeah. My big ears… they let me hear you better.”

Little Red nodded and made her way to the foot of the bed. She extended her hand, allowing her fingers to trot across the quilted surface as they traveled to the two large tents over Wolf’s feet. “Boop,” she said, poking his foot.

Wolf gripped the quilt tighter, flinching as he pulled his foot away.

“Those are some big-ass feet, Grandma. They sure don’t seem very ladylike.”

“They’re not that big,” Wolf said automatically. “I mean, they let me run faster. So, I can get to you in case you fall.”

Little Red nodded appreciatively. “Well played.”

Wolf blinked. What?

“Well, that’s a big ole wet nose you’ve got there, Grandma. What’s that about?”

Yeah, well, I don’t need it to smell through the bullshit of whatever this act is. “Allergies,” he replied flatly.

“Oh, I figured you’d tell me it was to smell my lovely hair. Or maybe my baked goods or some other such nonsense.”

What the hell are you talking about? Why would you expect someone to say that?

“Hello? Grandma?”

“Sorry, dear. I must’ve fallen asleep.”

“Do you usually sleep with your eyes open? And why’s your voice so grating? I’m wondering if Krusty the Clown might be under there instead of my grandma.”

Wolf pulled the covers to his face, exposing his fangs as his upper lip curled into a snarl. You’ll think clown when I bite your damn face off.

“Blink twice if you can hear me,” she said, smacking the covers near his feet.

Wolf lunged, fangs and claws reaching. His mouth yawned as Little Red stepped back. Her cloak billowed, but to his surprise, his bite found purchase. He glanced down to the basket clinched in his teeth, then back up at the hood looking down at him.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“You’re wrecking my basket, Grandma.”

A blue light strobed, illuminating the underside of her face. Wolf looked at the odd light show, confused, while his bite remained firm.

Then—pain.

It was like he was hit with a sledgehammer while a rug was jerked out from under him. The room lurched, and the single window light streaked as it moved away from him. Everything became muffled and far away.

Wolf looked ahead, his perspective altered. He was lost again, his head fuzzy as his nostrils filled with the smell of blood, dust, and burnt hair. Ahead of him was a column of light, but a single shadow-hump jutted out from the surrounding parallel lines. It was all orderly except for that misplaced hump.

A muffled conversation took place nearby, but Wolf ignored it, squinting as he tried to smooth out the blurred edges within his vision. What is that? he thought as he looked at the shadow-hump. He reached and wrapped his fingers around the familiar metal, then pulled it closer. His focus intensified as he held it a few inches from his face, soon recognizing it. The doorknob!

Wolf glanced over, realizing the ache in his cheek was actually the floor pressed against it. He glanced the other way, noting the underside of the bed. Why am I on the floor?

Wolf relaxed his jaw and allowed wicker and bread to fall free of his mouth before sitting up. “Ow,” he protested, reaching for his chest.

Little Red spoke to… to the wall, apparently. But her talking seemed inconsequential as he collected himself. What the fuck just happened? He held his chest while reaching up to rub his head, the hat moving with his hand.

“Should I come in to help?” a man asked.

“No, we’ll translock to you when Wolf comes to,” Little Red replied.

Was I hit with something?

Wolf looked up as her red form approached and knelt in front of him. His was distant but a Tzzt-tzzt-tzzt sound brought his focus to a pinpoint as he watched an electric arc leap between two prongs.

Wolf shied away from the stun gun, his gaze shifting to her awaiting expression when she dropped the weapon from view.

“Get your shit together, Wolf,” Little Red said, shaking his shoulders. “We need to go!”

Little Red’s hood was down, her gaze stern as the electric blue of her irises shifted between Wolf’s eyes.

A figure lumbered through the bedroom door and Little Red spun towards it. She jerked and muffled thuds followed. Something bounced and rolled against Wolf’s foot.

Little Red slammed the door, then pushed a dresser to bar it. She moved to the bathroom but stopped as she reached for the handle. “What the hell, Wolf?” The empty air burned with a green tint and she crossed through a new opening.

But Wolf was more interested in his chest, looking down as he rubbed it. The gown had a scorch mark and was wet along his belly and side. Did I spill something? he thought as a scent of urine twisted its way through to his nasal recognition. He scowled.

Little Red reemerged and threw water on him. A solid cube of ice struck him in the brow but was forgotten as he lunged upward to sit on the nightstand to glance around the room. His eyes fixated on the empty vase in her hands. He started to protest but stopped when he noticed a decayed head in the floor.

He forgot his complaint.

Little Red rolled her shoulders out from under her cloak, Wolf forgotten as she studied her wrapped knuckles. She knocked her fists together, eliciting a muffled ting-ting of metal striking metal.

“What the hell’s happening?” he asked, glancing between her and the severed head.

“Someone crashed the party,” Little Red replied. “So, story time has to be put on hold.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

A face thumped against the window. The decayed figure’s cheeks and nose were torn away. Its skin was blue-gray and its single remaining eye didn’t have an eyelid.

Little Red nodded towards the figure. “That zombie is what it means.”

A thump sounded against the bedroom door followed by scratches against its wood. Wolf didn’t know where to focus until he heard a wet sound flop into the floor of the adjacent bathroom.

His eyes widened as he slowly turned to the knobless door, fixating on the peg jutting out on his side. It jiggled.

Wolf shook his finger at Little Red without looking away from the door. “You said something about leaving?”

“Yeah, we really should be going.”

Light erupted from the wall beside her, and she moved through it. Wolf carefully moved around the decayed head, when the nearby window broke. The bathroom door also opened and Wolf expedited his pursuit of Little Red, emerging onto a shingled roof.

Little Red was standing at the roof’s peak, talking through another green-boardered burn to a bearded man in dark-green flannel.

“Should I clear you a path?” he asked.

Little Red shook her head. “No. Just let them keep coming. I’ll come to you after I torch the place. The more we kill now, means less to deal with later.”

The man nodded and the burn-mark twisted closed.

Wolf looked up, squinting at the sun. This is a dream. I’m dreaming right now. She knocked me out somehow and I’m still unconscious.

A blue-rimmed burn opened. She moved through it and cast off her cloak, reemerging with a Molotov in each hand and a katana sheathed across her back. Her torso was wrapped in loose coils of a long red scarf, the tail hanging from the back of her shoulder.

Wolf scrunched his nose. “What the hell are you wearing?” he asked.

Little Red glanced at him, one bottle under her arm while she struck the flint of a lighter. “You’re one to talk, Grandma.”

Wolf looked down to his gown, rolled his eyes, then shimmed out of it. “Are you going to tell me what the hell’s going on?”

Another green burn opened, facing the front of their cabin. Zombies lined up and pressed against the structure. “How about we get out of here first?” She hurled a Molotov through where it erupted on the front porch.

Two purple-boardered burns opened on the roof and zombies stumbled through, causing Wolf to shoot to his feet. Another green one opened behind him and he turned to see the man in green flannel.

“Get out of here,” Little Red said. “I’m right behind you.”

Wolf leaped through, ousting by the bearded man, where they both looked towards the intensifying blaze.

Little Red emerged soon after, the building engulfed behind her. “We’re done here. Let’s get going.”