Shadow
Shadow, the black cat who shared years of Jimmy’s isolation, has died; Solo brings his stiffened body to a farm for burial.
Story so far
Solo first hears cries from the flooded levels that sound like an infant. He finds a black cat hiding in kitchen cabinets, wary and hissing until it accepts ration-bar pieces from his hand. An attempt to lift it brings claws into his arm, but after a splash into the water the frightened animal climbs his leg and trembles against his coveralls. Jimmy names the cat Shadow.
Fed beans, Shadow begins following Jimmy on food searches and sleeping against him in the lower farms. Their companionship lasts for years. Shadow interrupts his reading for affection, sometimes attacks the wrist rubbing his belly, and leads him to investigate a room of bodies before fleeing with his fur raised. He learns the ladder, likes resting on the hot server number forty, and darts into an attack on Jimmy, after which the pipe-wielding assailant screams and drops his flashlight.
Shadow shares Jimmy’s food, eating both fillets of a caught fish, and helps him find supplies. On one trip he leads Solo to an empty apartment with canned cat food and an electric can opener, becoming excited when it first runs. His familiar interruptions are absent while Solo makes paper parachutes. By the time Solo carries him to a farm for burial, Shadow’s body has stiffened.
Appearance
A black cat with claws and a bushy tail.
Role
Shadow was Jimmy’s companion and an aid in finding food over years of isolation; he is now dead.
Relationships
Sources — 31 recorded facts, by chapter
- An unidentified source of whimpering is audible inside the flooded levels.
- An unseen creature’s cries initially sound like an infant to Solo.
- A dark creature with claws and a bushy tail jumps from a kitchen counter into an open cabinet.
- The creature hiding in the kitchen cabinets is a black cat.
- The cat initially hisses and retreats when Solo opens its cabinet.
- The cat gradually accepts ration-bar pieces directly from Solo’s palm.
- The cat sinks its claws into Solo’s arm when he tries to pick it up.
- After splashing into the water, the cat climbs Solo’s leg.
- The soaked cat trembles in Solo’s arms and rubs against a dry part of his coveralls.
- The cat eats a second ration bar while perched against Solo’s chest.
- Shadow is a black cat named by Jimmy.
- After Jimmy feeds him beans, Shadow begins following him during food searches.
- Shadow curls up against Jimmy while they sleep in the lower farms.
- Shadow remains Jimmy’s companion for years after his rescue.
- Shadow interrupts Jimmy’s reading by walking across the book and seeking affection.
- Shadow can abruptly attack Jimmy’s wrist when Jimmy rubs his belly.
- Shadow mews and scratches at a closed door in the cafeteria until Jimmy investigates.
- Shadow flees the room of bodies with his fur standing on end.
- Shadow learns to climb the ladder but initially cannot get past the closed hatch.
- Shadow likes resting on the intensely hot server number forty.
- Shadow sniffs and licks the stains where a man Jimmy shot had died.
- Shadow darts into the attack on Jimmy, after which the pipe-wielding man screams and drops his flashlight.
- Shadow follows Jimmy up the ladder despite being told to stay behind.
- Shadow mews at the replaced hatch at night.
- Shadow eats both fillets of the fish Jimmy catches.
- Shadow normally interrupts Solo’s work by rubbing against his arm and stepping on what he is doing.
- Shadow is absent while Solo makes and releases paper parachutes.
- Shadow helped Solo find food over the years.
- Shadow once led Solo into an empty apartment containing canned cat food and an electric can opener.
- Shadow became excited when Solo first operated the can opener.
- Shadow’s body has stiffened by the time Solo brings it to the farm for burial.