I have arrived on the larger street and there are no zombies from where I am to the pet shop. I kept walking at the current pace and hoping the zombies gave up and didn’t follow me here. My heart is still beating fast and my legs aching like a spring was readied inside and I could leap and run away from my predicaments. Less than a hundred steps later, I arrive in the front of the pet shop.

Just like my house, my current surroundings are just ruins and rubble. Yet, this pet shop seems to be mostly intact. There are some ruins from its neighbor pilling on the roof and the front entrance but the pet shop building seems intact, including the one-way glass windows. I look around the road again, no zombies around me. Eager to have shelter and take a break from adrenaline I am not used to, I walk faster towards the pet shop.

The door is made of one-way glass just like the windows so I can’t glance inside. Putting my face on it usually works for glass like these but this one must have extra thick film because I can’t see anything. Carefully, I decided to open the door, imagining a zombie would lunge right away. The breeze from the air conditioner hit me, but besides that, there was no one on the other side.

I poke my head in and look around. This is the cashier area and there is a small office to the right. There is a doorframe beside the cashier counter, where the goods are displayed. Knowing I was far from the zombies, I decided to shout a little,

“Hello? Anybody here?”

No answer. I look back at the stark contrast of ruins before I enter the shop. After the encounter with rotten zombies, the air here smells so good, with the AC on and perfume bag dangling in front of it. I look at my immediate surroundings again, still feeling edgy and nervous. I walked into the office, where I found a half-full water dispenser. As I drank my fill and spilled some water to myself, the knots of adrenaline in my body began to unravel and I started to feel so tired. I shake my head to pull myself together and start looking at the pet shop properly.

This pet shop specializes in fish. A quarter of the place is filled with bathtubs and aquariums full of fishes, mostly decorative koi. This time, I see them empty. The other quarter of the place is filled with equipment and food for fish and other aquatic marines, then the rest is for generic pets like dogs, cats, hamsters, and rabbits. My survival games brain commented that I could eat canned cat or dog food, especially those labeled safe for human consumption. I probably can get more nutrition from dog food than cat food, they have pictures of meats and veggies. I remember I searched the internet about this, but humans can survive for years on dog kibbles if supplemented by vitamin C. Food can come later, I needed to make sure there are no hidden zombies.

I have finished my inspection of the pet shop, there are no zombies or other creatures here. The walls and roofs are all intact and the floor uncannily clean. Added with fluorescent lights, the place felt uncannily normal. I would have analyzed it further and should be wary about these, but I am too tired. It is a safe place, let’s end at that. And so, I choose a corner, put down the box with my cats, pile up some pet pillows beside it, lay down, and quickly fall asleep.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

***

I am woken up by a voice in my head and the weight of something above my stomach. I sat down and saw Levi standing on my stomach, he immediately jumped sideways to where Hamu was waiting silently.

Levi says in my mind. I was confused and stared at the cat.

“Meow!” Levi meowed to drive the point that it was really him and that we urgently needed to leave. I felt a little dazzled and in disbelief, all I could answer was with a nod and stand up.

First, I took with me two cat backpacks. They look like normal backpacks but have stronger fabrics and usually have windows made with thick plastic or nylon net. I grab two with nylon net windows. I pause a bit, I could use them to carry my cats or pack up supplies. I look at them, they have been waiting on the corner.

“Would you two walk with me when we are out?”

Levi answers and licks his paw. He seems to act as if that is obvious and I don’t have to ask.

So, I have a big space for supplies, as long as they are not too weighty. I decided to start with cat and dog kibbles, they come in large containers so they will last for a bit. Then, I rummage for a plastic bottle in one of the trash cans, wash it with water, and then fill it with water. I then added canned cat foods and dog foods and didn’t forget some Churu liquid snacks that my cats enjoy very much. I kept grabbing food until I realized the backpack never gets full or weighty.

I look down at the bag, it seems like half full. When I put my hand inside, I can find the first kibble bags I put and they are deep down there. Huh? In a gaming term, I just acquired a bag of keeping, in normal terms it is a makes no sense dimensional bag.

I feel the stare of my cats behind me. Right, I have to hurry. So I grab more bags of kibbles, cans of pet foods, and cat snacks. And the very few cat toys this shop has. Minutes later, I emptied the pet shop of anything edible for me or my cats, and the backpacks were still not full. I decided to keep two backpacks, one worn on the front and one on my back. A bag of keeping would be valuable and I could have one for immediate need items and the other for my supplies.

I glanced at my surroundings in case I missed something when I heard the sound of water splashing. Then from the aquarium area, I see koi fishes with glowing eyes swimming in the air and start to fill the area.

Levi snaps at me and I start running towards the entrance, my cats are in front of me. The entrance should be close by but the floors began to stretch and turn transparent like glass. Beneath the floor, I see an ocean with many colorful coral reefs and fish. The floor stretched further to show another part of the ocean, one that was deeper and darker, I kept running as fast as I could towards the entrance.

I reached the entrance as the floors behind me started to disappear, the racks fell off in huge splashes and sunk into the water. My cats panicked and scratched at the glass door, unable to open it. I opened the door and we ran outside. We are back to the ruined world. And when I look back to the pet shop, it is no longer there. Instead, it is replaced by a wall with a mural of fishes and weird symbols.

The anomalous pet shop, turning into an ocean [https://i.imgur.com/9juOi7l.jpg]