ORNA RAT

BACK TO THE PRESENT

Anne, Leo, and Mark had finally emerged from the bunker, only to be confronted by the crazed, pitch-black eyes of a monstrous rat.

One might have found it cute if not for its monstrous size and razor-sharp incisors that inspired fear instead of admiration. Without its size, it could have been mistaken for a pack rat. Its whiskers twitched as it gazed at the unfamiliar figures before it.

Sensing danger from the monstrous rodent in front of them, Mark pushed the two back as he shut the door, securing them in the safety of the bunker.

Screech !!! Bang!! Bang!!! The monster scratched and slammed its body on the bunker door trying to rip it apart as it stood as a barrier between it and its prey.

"What was that?" they exclaimed simultaneously, the image of the beast vivid in their minds.

" It looked like a giant mouse" Anne exclaimed, her knees slightly shaking from fear.

" No that should be some kind of mutated pack rat," Leo said feeling the need to correct her as the features of the beast pointed more to a rat than a mouse.

"That's not the point," Anne retorted. "What happened to the outside world for such a monstrosity to be born?" she added.

"Wait... a rat is just a rat no matter how big," Mark said as he walked towards the door. With a clenched fist, he banged on the door, causing the monstrosity outside to momentarily stop its actions.

Leo understood what his best friend was up to as he, too, banged on the door frantically, creating a horrendous melody and frightening the beast into hiding.

"Anne, let's get out of here before it gets back." Mark opened the bunker door and reached out his hand to Anne. He had noticed that the girl was more terrified of being holed up in here than out there facing the monstrosity.

One might not have noticed, as she always wore a calm and cool facade, but after staying with someone for as long as they had, it's easy to pick up even the slightest mood change.

They walked out of the bunker keeping the door open in case the monstrosity showed up again.

The monster had earlier captured their attention, preventing them from noticing the state of the once beautiful bathroom. Pieces of shattered glass glittered in the morning sunlight, and the bathroom doors lay on the ground, broken and disfigured by the water pressure and something else.

The bugs that they had been feeding on all this time roamed the bathroom, with most of them gathered in one spot, seemingly feasting.

Anne hurled when she noticed what the bugs were feeding on. Leo and Mark tried to hold it in, but couldn't, as they too emptied the contents of their stomach.

In the corner of the bathroom lay a pile of bodies. Some were chewed up, with limbs torn apart, almost decaying, and some were familiar, as they were once classmates, while others were unknown.

Crawling on the pile of bodies were multicolored bugs that seemed to be feasting on the dead. Some emerged from within, clutching chunks of meat in their tiny mandibles. Many of them were hidden beneath the corpses, indicating that they had established a nest.

The thought of having eaten these critters for a whole two weeks made the three of them feel disgusted with themselves. Thoughts crossed their minds as they averted their gaze from the gruesome scene before them.

"Clang!!!" They simultaneously turned their heads toward the direction of the sound. Mark nudged the bunker door, as the sound seemed to come from behind it.

"Behind the bunker door stood a pile of shiny objects and trinkets, parts of machinery, as well as weapons ranging from the medieval era to their present time. They were nothing too fancy, just a couple of silver handguns with a few shotguns in the midst. Swords and shields, which looked more like relics than weapons, added to the pile.

Atop all of this was a pack rat, devoid of fur with its eyes tightly shut, features that made it the baby it was.

" So that's why the door couldn't open," Mark thought aloud, his eyes fixed on the pile before them.

"Cheep!! Cheep!! Cheep!!" The baby monster made these sounds as it crawled toward them. Mark attempted to pick it up, which angered the mother who watched from the side. With a swift tail slap, it struck Mark, hurling him into a pile of corpses. It hissed at Leo and Anne, who were slowly backing away. The monster wanted to attack but was afraid its baby would be caught in the conflict. Thus, it stood behind the baby, making hissing sounds to deter the intruders.

Leo noticing its action slowly walked toward it, his arms up as he assumed a threatening stance.

The beast thrashed its tail around, trying to scare him off, but it was in vain as Leo continued to walk forward. The beast started to throw its precious pile of shiny things at the oncoming figure, its eyes crazed, thinking it could attack such a meager being if not for its baby.

Leo smiled as he got what he wanted; he dashed backward, grabbing a silver handgun that had been thrown by the monster. He checked the magazine and, surprisingly, it still had bullets in it.

He pulled the trigger, aiming the pistol at the bunker door. The first shot failed as the pistol was clogged by debris after being submerged in the water for so long.

The monster looked at Leo, its guard up as it sensed danger from the device he held. It rushed forward, hoping to kill him before he made his next move.It swiped its tail, hitting Leo squarely in the chest. Leo was slammed against the ceramic wall, shattering the already fragile structure.

"It's not as painful as I thought," Leo thought to himself, lying on his back.He got up, barely dodging the sharp incisors of the giant creature. He tried to jump to the side but found himself rebounding into the ceramic wall.

BANG!! CLANG!!!

The beast stopped in its tracks as Leo fired at the bunker door.Now aiming the pistol at the baby rat, Leo fired, forcing the mother to jump in to save her baby.Blood gushed out of the monster's side as it was struck by Leo's bullet.

"This might be cruel, but it was the only way," Leo muttered to himself as he pulled the trigger, showering the monster with bullets until the magazine emptied.

Surprisingly, the monster stood still, blood pouring from its wounds as it shielded its baby.Anne, who stood on the sidelines, witnessed everything in shock at Leo's cunningness.

A wounded mother is the most dangerous. With its last strength, it rushed toward Leo, its mouth wide open as it attempted to bite his head off, unaware of the other force that stood behind its target.It reached Leo and snapped its mouth shut, believing it had swallowed him whole, only to feel excruciating pain in its mouth. Its mouth was impaled with a spear, one of the many trinkets that lay in its nest.

"Sorry," Mark said as he stabbed the monster's eyes, driving another spear into its brain through its eyes.

Leo coughed up a mouthful of blood after noticing the beast had lost the light in its eyes, and its breathing ceased for good.

[Ding, a life has been taken, extracting soul energy]

A notification sounded in Mark's head as five points were added to his soul energy.

"Man, I've always told you to stop pulling such tricks; you might die one of these days," Mark said, offering a shoulder for Leo as he stumbled on his feet. It seemed he had taken damage from the two lashes he got from the monster's tail.

"Yeah, you're right. Unlike forest animals, I know little about this beast, but no need to worry. I knew what I was doing," Leo said.

Anne walked towards the two, offering a shoulder. She was quiet, yet her mind raced with questions.

"How?"

"What just happened?"

"Couldn't we have just run?"

"..."

"Let me down; it's nothing. The endurance we gained came in handy. If not for that, I would not have tried such a stunt," Leo said, noticing how quiet Anne was being.

" So what now "