The Ravenous Rats

This story won Zafar HONORABLE MENTION in the Scholastic Awards!

The shining sun glared down on the small town of Deaba, Louisiana. Everywhere the light shone, there was peace, happiness, and serenity. But in the darkness, there was no harmony, no rules, and no laws. Behind the KFC was a gray, greasy alleyway where little light shone through. The alleyway housed a dumpster stained with liquid and trash from tin cans to puddles of vinegar. Ishmeal poked his head into the top-most trash bag that reached the lid, looking for something to eat. “Oi! Cuz! I think I found something.” His tail swayed back and forth until it whipped up straight, motionless. Ishmeal then held up a half-eaten chicken bone. Hunter, waiting on the greasy pavement and working on a wrapper, cocked his head. His mouth started salivating just by looking at the juicy chicken bone. His taste buds could almost sense the drumstick on his tongue.

“Bring it down then. We don’t have all day.” Ishmeal gripped the chicken leg in his forepaws and with the grace of a piece of cheese he jumped down to the pavement; however, without his front paw, he couldn’t stabilize himself at the crossbeam and he smacked the ground, face flat. Ishmeal was knocked out. It was at this moment that the chicken rolled away from his grip. Hunter saw his moment, he pounced on it. Once Hunter pierced through the crunchy outside his taste buds burst! His mouth danced with joy as the grease ran down his throat, coating his GI tract. Hunter lost all sense of reality and was eating so fast that he was now eating the chicken bone. Soon enough there was no evidence left of the drumstick. Ishmeal slowly opened his paw and then a crusty eye.“Hunter! Where’s my portion? You didn’t even find it.”

“Well, you were on the ground and you didn’t say you wanted any so I finished it. By the way, it was delicious.” Hunter licked his fingers and smacked his lips. Ishmeal was staring at him. Angry. Suddenly, he jumped onto Hunter. He opened up his jaws and bit a big chunk of Hunter’s shoulder off. Hunter began to howl in pain and he tried to push Ishmael off of his body. Red hot blood flowed down Hunter, making him look like a ball of dirty maroon yarn. Ishmeal kept scratching Hunter with his razor-like claws and then, without warning, the KFC back door opened. They froze. A man with a big white bag walked over to the dumpster and smooshed the bag in. Then the man paused, cocked his head, and turned around.  He looked down, made eye contact with Hunter and Ishmael and froze.  His eyes seemed to grow three fold and he screamed in fear, scampering back into KFC:. “AAAAAACCCKKKKKKKKK! RAAAATS!” 

Ishmeal and Hunter looked at each other. They both began to run, but Hunter stepped on a glue trap.

“Wait Ishmeal! Help me! I can’t run! My leg is stuck!”

“Yeah ri-” He stopped. Another man, this time a big burly man with a broom who had heard the scream, crashed through the oily screen door. Ishmeal dashed as fast as he could, hoping he could make it to the trap in time to save his cousin. The man started to raise the broom. Ishmeal grabbed Hunter’s paws and started to pull.

“You’re saving me. Why?”

“Questions later, saving now!” Ishmeal jerked Hunter’s leg. Suddenly it popped loose, leaving two forlorn (and greasy) toes. They began to run. The man whacked his broom down, soon realizing he missed. He tried again. This time when he whacked, he nailed Hunter.

“Ow!” 
“Hunter, are you okay?”  
“No I am not! He got my leg and I lost two toes! He shall pay for his sins.” 

Ishmeal hoisted Hunter up onto his back and looked up and saw the entrance to their hideout in front of the local pawnshop. The entrance was hidden under a couple of elderberry leaves. Ishmeal sprinted to the hole, huffing as sweat dripped down his chest. Hunter’s blood was soaked into his fur. Ishmeal’s arms began to grow weaker and weaker. Their Hidey Hole was just a couple inches away. Ishmeal threw himself to the entrance. He crashed through the leaves, ripping them in half. He landed safely thanks to the fact that Hunter had broken his fall. “What the heck, Ishmeal, you almost killed me!” Hunter’s face was raw with pain and his beady eyes were filled with anger.
“I’m sorry but I wanted you to be safe to heal.”
“Well you should have thought that before using me as a cushion!” Hunter’s face turned red hot. He was in so much pain that the white of his little knuckles started to show through. 
“Well you are safe now. Just be grateful. ” Ishmeal walked over to their beds made out of straw and weeds. He patted his cousin’s bed, gesturing for Hunter to sleep. “You look tired.” Hunter looked over at Ishmael with his pale face. The blood on Hunter’s leg had started to dry up a bit but the dark circles under Hunter’s eyes had grown and he did not look well.  His head slowly started to sway back and forth.  
“Yes of course I need sleep!” snapped Hunter. “I can already feel the pain moving its way to new parts of my body.” Hunter hobbled over to Ishmeal, one leg straight, the other twisted in a strange way. Hunter sat down on the bed slowly, gently making himself comfortable. Ishmeal helped him as he did so. 
“There you go, nice and comfy now.” 
“I see colors and stars and…” Hunter’s eyelids finally closed. The white of his eyes showed a bit, making him look particularly frightening as he slept. Ismeal was not used to things being so quiet in the pawnshop hideout. He had gotten used to Hunter’s constant complaints and banter. Ishmeal found himself alone in a dark hole with no one to talk to: just himself in the vast space of nothingness. He found his way to a corner in the room and he began to curl himself in a ball. His stomach began to grumble but he shrugged it off, trying not to think too much about food and how hungry he was. Ishmeal watched as the world upon him began to fade away.

***
            Hunter sat up straight, scanning the room filled with the horrible stench of mice. Ishmeal kicked the broken chair leg across the floor. “The mice are back!? We slept through their infiltration! They trashed our hole. There is hay from the bed everywhere and the bed is broken!” Hunter looked up at Ishmeal.
            “The question is not about who, but why. Have we assaulted them in some way, or have we disturbed the peace by doing something?” Hunter winced in pain holding his leg. “Ish, it is not getting better.”
“Here. Why don’t I-” Ishmeal paced back and forth trying to find something. “Ah, here it is.” Ishmeal pulled out a crutch made of sticks and rags from his mound of hay. “I made this last night. I thought that you might need it after that whole event.” Ishmeal sat on the bed and lifted Hunter’s leg. 
    Hunter hissed. 
Ishmeal backed his hands away. “Okay! Okay I get it. Your leg hurts. And maybe your shoulder hurts as well from my bite.” Hunter eased himself and allowed Ishmeal to put his hands on his leg.  
“Ow! Ow! Please stop! It hurts so much! Ah!” 
“Hunter, fight through the pain. Just hate on the mice and let it boil it up inside you.” Hunter suddenly stopped panting and closed his eyes and breathed. He breathed in and breathed out, hating on the mice for having the audacity to come into their sweet Hidey Hole. Finally he opened his eyes. 
“Alright, ready.” Hunter squeezed his face down tight and clenched his fangs. But it was already over! Ishmeal took his paws off of Hunter’s leg as gingerly as possible, then he stood up.
“Now that was not so hard was it?” Hunter gave Ishmeal a tight slap. 
“What the moldy gouda was that for!?”
“You deserved it for making me suffer for that long.” 
“Fine. Anyway, now that you’re back on your feet we need to find out how to track down those mice.”
“Easy. The steps to finding them are right at the entrance of our search.” Hunter motioned over to some red steps leading into a tunnel.
***

            After trekking for about an hour they came across a brightly lit path. This path was filled with trees that soared sky high and wild bushes that were close to the ground. The  sun loomed right over them, indicating that it was noon. The two rats stopped, one covered in dried blood and the other in sweat. Hunter moved his leg around, not feeling much pain anymore.
Hunter’s nose perked up. “I think I found something. Follow me.” He made a dash for the pipe and picked up a label and examined it. Ishmeal came panting behind.
            “How much longer?”
            “Not much. Look.” He showed the label to Ishmeal and he was confused. “What the heck does this even mean?”
            “Sniff it.” Ishmeal shrugged and sniffed a bit of the label. “See, the awful stench of the mice has been tagged onto this label leaving it as a clue. And look at the label, what does that say?”
            “SheaznE?”
            “What? Have you not been taught to read?”
            “Nope and I don’t intend on it.”
            “Never mind that it says “cheese”. Now why would they have left a cheese wrapper?” 
    “Because they are MICE.”
“No but this one has a specific smell to it. It is almost like it burns my nose right off.”
“Well what else does it say on the wrapper?” Hunter pulled the paper closer to his eyes and squinted. 
“It reads: Jean Fromage Cheese Shop. Well, as far as I know, the cheese shop is just a couple more blocks away. Well come on, we have nothing to lose.”
“Yay.”
            The walk to the cheese shop felt endless. Hunter’s legs were aching and his bones felt brittle. Ishmeal’s soles had become so worn out you could see the bone protruding from under his foot. 
            “Hunter. Can’t we just take a little break? My skin is so thin right now that I can see my ribs.” Ishmeal pinched the little bit of skin left on his body. 
            “No, the cheese shop is just around the corner.”

            “Mmm. Cheeeese.” Ishmeal’s stomach began to rumble louder and louder. “I can’t stop thinking about it now. Mmm, that delicious brie just melting in my mouth soothing my taste buds. Yet there is always a hint of saltiness in it. But it is still sweet as it glides down your throat.” Ishmeal stopped in his tracks and he started to rub his belly and close his eyes. Hunter turned around looking at Ishmeal. 
            “Shut up, you’re making me hungry.” Hunter, before the journey, had looked as plump as a cushion, but he was stick thin now. “Here you know what, we can stop at this trash can and find some loot here.” Hunter put his hands down making a platform for Ishmeal to stand on. As Ishmeal stepped on Hunter was baffled. “Jeez, are you on a diet? If so it’s working.”
“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up right now, you’re no different.” Ishmeal dug his razor-like claws into the trash can. Suddenly his bottom claw slipped. SSSSCCCRRRREEECH. Hunter winced.
“What in the Roquefort was that!! Stop fooling around.” Ishmeal nodded and started to dig his claws into the trash can. Slowly he made it to the top of the can.
“Okay trash can. Let’s see whatcha got.” Ishmeal started to dig into the pile and soon he found something that made him perk his tail up. “Ho, ho, ho!
“What is it!”
“Hunt, you are not going to believe what I found!”
“Alright yes I will not believe it, but what is it, show me!” Ishmeal’s dirty little paws showed over the lip of the trash can revealing what looked to be a slice of pizza. Ishmeal brought it closer to himself. He inspected the golden cheese on the pizza, the pieces of pepperoni, and the bright red sauce. Ishmeal took a bite, his eyes lit up, his taste buds danced.  The pepperoni, the cheese, and the sauce mixed together made a melody worthy of Beethoven himself. When Ishmeal took a bite of the crust he knew he had experienced true happiness. The bread tasted fresh and straight out of the oven.

“Oh Hunter, it’s magnificent. Here, try some.” He threw a piece down for Hunter to try. Hunter took a bite and said nothing.
“Yes. Yes. Toss it to me!” Hunter put the pizza on the pavement. Ishmeal put the hot dog on the pizza. 
    “Hey Hunter. Do you think that smells weird? I mean just take a look.” Ishmeal pointed to the white moss-looking substance on the hot dog. 
    “Nah.” Hunter shoved the pizza in his face and took a bite. “Mm. It tastes like – .” Suddenly his stomach rumbled like a foghorn. Hunter took a look at his stomach. “It must be because I’m still hungry.” He put the pizza down and sat on the pavement. “Hey Ish, you want to try some?”
    “Why not?” Ishmeal picked up the pizza from the hot dog and took a human-sized bite. “Wow! That tastes like… hurk… nothing like I’ve tasted.” Suddenly Ishmeal’s stomach started to rumble too. Ishmeal’s eyes opened up wide. “Whew, this pizza really takes a lot out of you.” 
    “Yeah. Whew. Okay let’s get moving.” Hunter lifted himself from the dry pavement. “Where is the cheese shop?”
    “Well how am I supposed to know? I couldn’t read a sign if my life depended on it. Owwhh.” Ishmeal grabbed his stomach and clenched it tight. “This is horrible. How did this happen?”
    “Oh suck it up and be a buck. Now let’s go that way.” Hunter pointed in front of him.
     Hunter looked up to find that there was a green sign above their heads with white lettering. 
“It says the Jean Fromage Shop. Huh. Wait! Jean Fromage! That’s it! Let’s look inside.”
“Alright I am ready.”
“Achoo!” 
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little pain. But really I’m fine. Whew. Okay. Let’s go.”
***
The cheese shop was accessed by a hole in the gutter which led to an opening behind the door. Ishmeal and Hunter basked in the glory of cheese: from Swiss to Tomme de Savoie,

they stared as the rows stretched on forever, covering the walls with

wheels of Camembert and Leicester Red

and even blocks of Manchego

lined up in front of the concession stand. Ishmeal sniffed the air. “Smells fresh.” Hunter punched a hole into a wax wheel and took a chunk of Vacherian into his mouth.

“Mmm. This cheese. It just melts and is… oddly sweet.” He started to go in for more when he saw something that looked out of place. “Hey. Can you see a bit of an opening near that wall?”
“Yeah.” Ishmeal walked closer to the wall. He touched the wooden panel with his paw and he pushed it. Suddenly the panel sprung open. “Hey lookie here.”
“OOOH! What do we have here?” Hunter walked over to the panel with Ishmeal. In the doorway they saw a tiny mouse almost a quarter of their size. Hunter slowly walked over to the mouse. “Don’t worry little buddy. This won’t hurt too much.” Hunter lunged for the mouse barely scraping it. He looked up only to find that the mouse was gone. “Fudgy gouda! It got away.”
“Well come on. We don’t have a second to lose.” Ishmeal started to run over to Hunter picking him up, when suddenly a light turned on. They saw hundreds of mice standing there like a big wall. Ishmeal and Hunter just stood there, astonished and frightened. Hunter began to speak up. 
“Hi.” He then straightened his posture and puffed out his chest. He then said with authority, “Which one of you broke into our hidey hole!” There was no response from any of the mice. All of them had dead stares in their eyes. 
“Hunter. We should run now rather than later. I thought those mice would be puny. They are bigger than a gallon sized wheel of gouda.”
“No, I want to talk to them. Now speak up!” One mouse looked down at Hunter and stared at him, not even blinking once. Hunter began to gulp. But then he grabbed his stomach.
    “Hunter stop faking this. Seriously. Hunter. Hunter?” Ishmeal started to sweat, “Hunter what’s wron- AHH!” Ishmeal clenched his stomach tight. It felt like there was an animal inside of his body twisting and turning it around. Both Hunter and Ishmeal fell to the ground howling in pain. The mold from the hot dog had started to kick in and cook their insides. Suddenly there was a booming voice coming from behind the wall of mice.
“Make way!” All the mice forming the wall moved to one side making a hallway for a shriveled old mouse to make his way through. Behind him were mice in white uniforms and caps with red crosses. They were rolling stretchers past the old mouse running to get Hunter and Ishmeal to safety. Once Hunter and Ishmeal were on the stretchers they were rolled into the hallway. 
As they were being rolled to the unknown place Ishmeal turned his head to Hunter. “At least we had one last adventure.” 
“Yeah. To one. Last. Adventure.”  
He watched as Hunter’s eyes drifted away. Ishmeal began to weep. He grabbed his cousin’s paw and it gripped tightly, not letting go. As he shed his last tear he looked at Hunter’s still corpse for one last time, and expired himself.