Visitors

Rodents. I hate them. I do everything in my power to eliminate them whenever I come across one. And yet, now I was subservient to them. I relied on them. They were my source of life… and of food.

We’d been trapped in this tunnel since the cave in a week ago, and rats are the only thing left to eat now. I had never expected that I would come to hate rats even more than I did before, but eating them did the trick. They were always hideous in my mind, but consuming them bit by bit drove home every unlikable feature.

We knew there would be a rescue dig to get us out, but it wasn’t clear when that would be. None of us were worried, strangely, but sitting in the dark with nothing to do had worn us out. We sat listening to the stillness, hoping for the sound of a drill, hammer, or the distant thud of explosives. And, naturally, for the scrabbling sound of rodent feet nearby.

I heard one just now, maybe ten feet away. It was working its way across the rough stone tunnel floor, slowly smelling for the food that we didn’t have. It could tell something was nearby, and as it got closer it slowed its approach. Or did it?

It sounded more distant than I thought. With a crack, light blasted into our world. I jumped from the suddenness of it, smashing my head against a protrusion in the rock. I listened as I lay dazed, my life slipping away from me. The rats were gone, and there were voices nearby. It went dark.