Pest Control
"When will he wake up?"
Said the pops, still on alert holding his broom. "I don't know, he might have a concussion?"
"A cunk wha-"
"What were you doing anyway, doesn't look like cleaning to me, this whole kitchen is banjaxed! Look what you have doen as well, poor Dennis was here because of me, and now you have simultaneously ruined mine AND your respect!"
The old man went quiet and didn't give me any comment, and stood there staring here and there like a buffoon.
"Hey! Are you hearing me?"
*SMASH*
"YOU CRAZY WRETCH!"
Soon I would regret saying those words as what came after was truly concerning and mind boggling. An unknown and petite creature, almost like a rodent, was seen planting his feet on one wall and ejecting towards the other in a flash, it was discombobulating but frightening at the same time, now I knew the reason why this old man was swinging this broom like a mad man, and it wasn't him who caused all this destruction in the kitchen, it was this rat. Before I knew it, the rodent had multiplied his speed and was causing even more chaos, the sooner we got out of there, the better. The rodent did a lache off of the hanging light and had hurled itself right towards us as the pops throws me his broom, grabs Dennis' arm and flings him on his shoulder carrying him out of the kitchen and back to the counter while commanding me to follow him with the broom, then before the rodent could get to us he shut the door loudly and told me to jam it using the broom as the original padlock had broken, courtesy of the rat; and that's how we survived this sudden and chaotic situation.
"You saved us there pops, also...WHAT IS THAT MONSTROSITY?!"
I complain to the pops who just answers with, "Calm down kid, once we get to the bottom of this, I'll explain everything, just follow my instructions, we are gonna' kill this abomination."
And just like that, he wandered off somewhere outside of the tavern, I tried to call him back, constantly hollering at him but he didn't budge and carried on, I didn't even think to try to use force as it would be indefinitely futile.
<12 minutes later>
<8:35 p.m.>
"Took you long enough...What did you get anyway.."
The pops slams a mettalic bottle on the counter that read out: 'HOME PEST CONTROL! Crawl out those nasty bugs out of your house! Stay Clean! CAUTION: CANNOT BE USED ON REGULAR PESTICIDES. CANNOT BE INHALED. NOT FOR UNDER-13'
As expected, I get no response from pops and he minds his own buisness while ordering me around, I don't complain, he was going to explain everything after this anyways so I gladly obliged to help him in his scheme to end this creature's destruction. The plan was simple, use the undercut of the door to inject all the pesticide spray into the kitchen and wait until the rat was put in an everlasting slumber, however....the plan posed a problem, the kitchen contained valuable ingredients which was used in making the alcohol and the food, they were the owner's hardwork and he didn't want to poison them. That is why before commencing this plan, a rescue mission needed to be executed.
"Alright, listen. Wear this suit, it'll protect you from all attacks of the rat, it's made of an impenetrable material, go in, then take everything you see, which is one the trolleys, or any packages on the floor, in the fridge, just whatever which is valuable. I'll count you down"
"WAIT, Pops, aren't you going in ther with me together, hey, what if I forget something, hey come on!"
*WHOOSH*
And just like that I was thrown in the pits of hell.
The rat was nowhere seen inside the kitchen, I was exetremely petrified, it could appear abruptly and I would have no way to stop it. Is this special suit even effective, I didn't have any way to test it, how was I supposed to trust it. For the time being I just grabbed everything I saw and stuffed it inside a duffle bag that the pops baught. Nothing out of the line had happened 'yet', but I was prepared for the worst. As I went, picking everything up, from various cooking herbs, fruits, vegetables, to frozen items, to utensils, everything I saw, I fitted it in the duffel bag, it was quite unusual and eerie, there was no rattling, no noise, it was almost as if the rat had completely disappeared.
*Creak*
"I have the stuff."
As I expected the pops was worryingly awaiting my return and as soon as I got back he snatched the duffle bag from me and got ready to open it to see if I didn't miss anything.
"You sure you got all of them?"
"See for yourself."
We both point our heads downwards on the bag as the pops slowly opens it, the more it opens, the further pops' face got from it, when it was entirely opened, there didn't seem to be much to worry about, as the contents of the bag seem to be completely intact, I lean closer and start taking out things for more confirmation.
"Well what do you know, it-"
*CRACK*
My vision became blurry, as the glass on the helmet of the suit had gotten a scar, I could barely see, so I took off the suit and found myself infront of that wretched rat again, who had stealthly made it's way right into the duffle bag, and now here out in the world to cause even more chaos. The pops could not let this happen and his careless instincts prevailed his mind as he took up the pest spray and started spraying all over towards the rat, like a mad man, but of course it was useless as the spray and the pops could not have matched the speed of the rodent in any way. I quickly pinched my nose to stop myself from inhaling the pest spray and kept moving here and there away from the trijectory of the rodent and the pops. This was certainly a troublesome ordeal, one that I didn't know the solution of, my only hope now was that eventually the rodent would catch the spray and fall dead, and this seemed to have already shown its effects as the speed of the rodent drastically decreased and it was taking much more time to jump from one surface to the other, as at first it looked like it was ricocheting off of all surfaces but now it was steadily planting his feet, slowing down then jumping, this was the pops' oppurtunity to spray even more.
However, that wasn't the case, this atrocious creature, had a mind of its own, it was all on purpose, so the pops could get closer to it and there it could aim for his prey and that is exactly what happened.
"POPS! WATCH OUT!"
*SMASH*
"DENNIS?!?!"
I couldn't notice him at all. Dennis had somehow secretly grabbed the broom and my broken helmet from the suit then got behind the rodent, smashing it into mush. And now it was time for an explanation.
"They are called mutants, as you know, centuries ago when disaster happnened and radiation flooded the whole world, it wasn't just humans who were affected, there were animals too, and to this day, animals from that time are living and walking on the Earth because of radiation, and they have developed certain adaptations which are unusual for a regular animal. Although, besides those animals which have natural radiation in them, there are mutants, they are subjects of radiation, who have been infected from some source that originally contained radiation. Last night, I found some of the items in my pantry had rottened, their color was dull, and the most notable thing was, through using my ability: 'preview', I was able to see particles of radiation oozing from the items. I knew it was trouble, but I just threw it in the trash and didn't think of it. Seems like this rat was the outcome of my irresponsible attitude."
It was an interesting story to be heard, but neither of the two of us gave any sort of comments and we all sat down to relax and have a moment to breathe. In the meantime, I take out the buisness card that Dennis gave me and contemplate on it, and that's when I realize.....
"POPS! WHAT TIME IS IT?!"
"Why, it's 8:53."
"I HAVE SIX MINUTES LEFT, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK, I NEED TO MAKE A QUICK TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL!"
I think I have found what we both need Delilah.