Hod stared open mouthed at the clerk.
Did he really just say that?
How could he possibly know that Hod understood him and could speak if he wanted to?
The clerk chuckled, “It's all good little dude, your secret is safe with me. I'm just trying to help.”
Hod felt a rush of excitement, this Get-Go employee might just be the key to everything!
If he really wanted to help them, it would be a game changer in the way the pack survived and stayed safe against the exterminators.
The clerk bent down to reach eye level with the little rat.
“I'm Clark,” he said, “You got a name?”
Hod searched the deep blue eyes of Clark the Clerk and decided this young human was really sincere.
“Hod,” the rat spoke, “I'm Hod.”
Clark beamed, his smile spreading wide, “I knew it!” He exclaimed, “Hod! You're brilliant!”
Hod found himself grinning too, Clark's genuine joy was infectious.
Maybe all wasn't lost!
Clark reached over to a shelf and grabbed a bag of Corn Nuts.
“This calls for a celebration!” he opened the bag and laid out a handful of the crunchy kernels for Hod before tilting the bag back into his mouth.
“Thanks!” Hod squeaked and Clark giggled through the snacks filling his mouth.
“That will never get old, man. It's crazy you can talk. My friends would think I was high.” He said.
Hod didn't know what that meant but he chewed a corn nut thoughtfully.
“Clark, what do you know about us rats?” he asked.
The clerk swallowed and reached for more, “Well, I knew you guys could talk cause I saw a documentary about rats once and came up with a theory about it all. Like, I figured you had to have your own habitat and society and stuff.”
Hod frowned, “You guessed right because of a theory you had?”
Clark nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah!”
Hod rubbed his chin, “Well, it's something.”
“Do you know how to stop the exterminators?” He asked, hope fluttering in his breast.
Clark sighed, “I've been fighting those dicks for months. Like, I can't really do much on my own but that's why I've been trying to get your attention!” he fiddled with his ponytail, “See I was working the late shift and had come back in that night you fell off the shelf and...”
Hod squeaked, raising his paws, “No! Please don't!”
Clark stepped back, “Oh sorry little dude, I didn't realize it was a sensitive subject. You got PTSD or something? I didn't know rats could get that.”
Hod frowned, “PTSD?”
Clark nodded, “Yeah like when something messes you up real bad. Uh, bullies or some bad shit like that.”
Hod twiddled his thumbs, “I don't know.”
“Ah, it's all good, I won't bring it up again.” Clark shrugged, “But the other rats weren't mean to you about it were they? I stopped seeing you on patrol after that.”
Hod cringed, he hadn't exactly been popular after the incident.
“I don't want to remember it.” he said.
Clark adjusted his visor, “No worries, we got bigger fish to fry with these exterminator assholes.”
Hod agreed, “Why do you hate them so much too?”
Clark shrugged again, “They pollute the earth with chemicals and hurt innocent animals and those horrible glue traps are really cruel.”
Hod shuddered, he'd been lucky to avoid seeing the results of a glue trap but he'd heard enough stories to know the horrors.
“So how do we stop them?” the little rat asked.
Clark looked thoughtful, “Well, I've tried to remove as many of the traps as possible but there are some tucked too far under the shelves that I can't reach. I'm also not sure where they put the poison since I wasn't here.”
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“Maybe I can help?” the words were out of Hods mouth before he realized what he was truly saying.
Clark perked up, “Yeah! You're small enough to get under the shelves and I can tell you how to disarm the traps or at least get them to me so I can do it.”
Hod swallowed hard, this meant he'd have to get back on the floor.
The image of the looming steel shelves left a metallic taste in his mouth as if he were still below them breathing the dust.
But he really had no choice but to do it for the pack.
They deserved to live safely and Hod wasn't going to waste this opportunity because he was scared.
“Let's do it” he said, punching his tiny fist into the palm of his other hand.
Clark chuckled, “Okay there Rambo, let me open my register first and see what we can do. I have customers to handle so we'll have to be strategic. Nobody else can see you. I won't bring it up again, but you know first hand how badly that goes.”
Hod nodded, “Got it. I'll wait for you in the tissue box until you're ready.”
Clark held out a fist towards Hod, “Right on!”
The tiny rat mirrored the movement and the two unlikely friends had an arrangement.
“Hell yeah rat fist bump!” Clark laughed.
Hod was glad for the fur covering his body so that a blush for him was a subtle heat that warmed his cheeks and not the way humans turned pink.
He hopped into the box and waited.
It wasn't long before Clark whispered to him, coaxing him out of hiding.
“Here,” he handed Hod an M&M, “Let's go.”
Clark held out his hand and Hod stepped on, marveling at the way human skin felt under his paws.
It was warm and sort of leathery; the tendons flexed haphazardly, making balance a challenge for Hod but he managed to stay upright as Clark carried him to a shelf of pantry goods.
“I think there's a glue trap under here I can't reach.” Clark said, setting Hod down.
The cool resinous floor was a stark contrast to the warm palm he'd been standing on but he steeled himself against the cold and the fear gnawed at his chest.
“Okay, tell me what to do.” He said.
Clark spoke, “The trap isn't secured to the floor so you should be able to slide it out under the shelf, but whatever you do DON'T touch it!”
Clark fumbled in his pockets before handing Hod a paperclip, “Use this to push the trap to me.”
Hod nodded and slipped under the shelf.
“I see it!” he cried.
His heart was thumping rapidly in his chest, his senses rebelling against everything he was doing.
He laid the paperclip halfway on the trap and used the clip like a paddle to drag the trap towards Clark.
He was shaking as he pushed through the underside of the shelf and Clark grabbed the trap using the same method.
Hod sighed with relief as Clark cheered,
“We did it!” he folded the paper so the glue stuck to itself and carried it to the trash can, “That was awesome!”
Hod felt like he needed a nap, his heart rate finally slowing,
“Yeah it was something alright.”
The ding of the door opening sent Hod diving back under the shelf as Clark hurried to the counter with a friendly, “Hello!”
Hod waited in the shadows for the customer to finish when he heard a soft gasp behind him,
“Hod?”
The little rat turned, surprise written all over his face as he met the stare of another rat.
“Memo?” he countered.
The other rat approached.
“What are you doing out here?” they both asked in unison.
Memo laughed, “Hod, everyone has been so worried about you!”
Hod frowned, “By everyone you mean my aunt and that one guy who says hello in the halls...”
Memo preened her whiskers, “No you idiot, I mean me and the whole pack! Well, not Razr but he's a dick and doesn't count.”
Hod shrugged, he didn't believe her one bit.
“What are you doing though?” she asked, her eyes taking in his dusty appearance.
He didn't want to tell her so he shrugged again, “Just trying to do my job.”
Memo rolled her eyes, “We all are but you going rogue like this isn't helping.”
Hod needed her to leave before Clark came back.
“Look,” he said, “Lord Smork sent me on a....uh, super secret mission and it's not for you so just go away.”
Memo raised her eyebrow, “Okay fine but I'm gonna have to report that you were out here.”
Hod bristled, “Fine! I hope you do!”
Memo shook her head as if dismayed, “Okay Skittle, suit yourself.”
Hod didn't have time for her so he ignored the jab and turned away, clearly dismissing her.
“Don't end up in a glue trap,” she said on her way out, “They're harder to get out of than a bag of candy.”
Hod wanted to throttle her but he ignored her again, waiting for the energy of her presence to fade.
He was still in a foul mood when Clark returned.
“Ready for the next one?” the cheerful clerk asked.
“Sure.” Hod sighed but the only thing he was ready for was a long rest and to be left alone.
“You okay fam?” Clark asked, concern lacing his tone.
Hod nodded slowly, “Yes, lets finish this.”
Clark looked as if he wanted to say more but kept quiet as he lifted the rat once again and led him across the store.
“The next one might be trickier,” Clark called, “I think they left some poison out but I'm not sure what we are looking for. The exterminators were here.”
Clark set Hod down beside a slim concrete beam, “But I couldn't see what they were doing.”
Hod yawned and nodded, “Okay.”
Clark glanced at the door, “Shit, my manager is coming!”
Hod squeaked and dove under the shelf, his paws skidding through some sticky residue.
Clark's voice was muffled as he talked to his boss.
Hod tried to listen but he couldn't make it out.
He side-stepped in the darkened underworld below the shelf, hoping to get a look at the outside.
He stepped again but his feet didn't move.
He stumbled and his paws slammed into something sticky.
No!
Hod panicked, he'd fallen into a glue trap!
“Help!” he cried without thinking and his heart sank again when he heard a less muffled human speak.
“What was that?”
It was Clark's manager.
Shit.