N3, Hunger

I was deep down underground, far away from the places where humans normally appeared. I would be avoiding them for the time being. Even my slow mind could easily reach the conclusion that any contact with those warriors was bad news, they treated me and my current kind like vermin. I didn’t want to see more of those rat massacres, I didn’t want to be paralyzed by fear nor did I want to shiver in a dark hole.

I had to be mindful of humans, and hide if I heard them or saw their lights, there was also that thing with the delicious smell, I was sure it was some kind of bait, and its effects were too powerful, I had been lucky to avoid death once again.

For now, I had to keep exploring these corridors, there was a chance that I would find an exit that wasn’t occupied by those warriors. Hopefully, one that led to the outskirts of the city I suspected lay on the surface.

That said, this place was strange. I had been assuming that it was some kind of sewer, but the smell wasn’t so bad and I had not found any running water down here. There was also the fact that the people coming down had left those marks to find their way inside the labyrinthine tunnels. It was likely that this subterranean space had another purpose.

‘Maybe it’s some kind of abandoned underground fortress?’

The thought crossed my mind, but there was no time to ponder about the nature of the hallways, right now I had more urgent matters.

Growl~.

My stomach roared.

‘I’m so hungry!’

I hadn’t eaten anything since the gray bug I was munching when I got my consciousness back. By the way, I had seen many more since that time, they were some kind of tiny crabs that roamed the place eating anything they could find. They could be found everywhere but when I moved closer they hid as pebbles or bumps on the stone path, I had also seen some hurrying to hide in the distance. I had tasted another one when I got hungry, but the feeling of chewing sand was too disgusting.

‘I will only eat them as a last resort.’

After taking that decision I began to wonder how I was going to find something to eat in this place. Up until now, I had only seen humans, rats, crabs, and some small insects that didn’t look very appetizing.

I wanted to taste the moss in the walls, but I couldn’t, I had tried to lean my paws against the wall and stretch my body, yet it grew just outside of my reach, and I knew the reason.

‘It’s your fault!’

I thought after watching another rat trying to eat the moss. Now I knew why there was none close to the ground. Before I had looked for a stone or something to help me prop myself up, but there was none around. If only my new kin were more cooperative, I could use them as a support.

‘Ugh, I guess that’s my only choice.’

I didn’t want to do it, but I had limited options. I had decided to look for the lizards depicted in the chalk marks. Hopefully, they would be the right size to be my second meal since waking up.

…

I had been following the directions left by the humans for some time and had since seen a new creature in the underground, big rats.

‘Or more like buff rats.’

They were bigger than other rats, with bulging muscles and patches of fur on their tails, especially at the tip. Most of them seemed to have a group of normal rats following them around.

‘I wonder if I can get some morsels by joining their gang.’

It was tempting to follow them but I was worried they wouldn’t share their food, or even worse, attack me. I had to keep my goal in mind.

As I passed by another pack of rats I felt a bit thirsty, thankfully this problem was easy to solve. I got close to the wall, there was a place where water oozed abundantly and I began licking it. Spots like this one were common down here, practically all the rocks in the wall were wet, so much that it was strange there wasn’t any water running down the corridors.

‘Ah~, much better.’ The cool water had tricked my stomach into thinking I had eaten. Although it wouldn’t last long.

I continued advancing down the eerie corridor, for some reason it looked unreal. Maybe the cause was the lack of any source of light, there were no torches nor lamps, not even luminescent mushrooms or shining rocks.

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‘Perhaps I can see in the darkness. The humans have lights, but they hurt my eyes.’

I reached the most obvious conclusion, there was no need to think more about it. I’d better focus on what might lie ahead.

After looking for a while I spotted a scaly tail in one of the adjacent corridors.

‘A lizard!’

The reptile wasn’t looking in my direction, I first saw a yellowish-green tail made of irregular, round scales. Going up the tail two rows of big brown scales continued outside of my sight, the creature’s belly was close to the ground and the legs at its sides ended in clawed feet. I couldn’t see its head but I noticed the animal was eating something.

‘Nope!’

The lizard was leisurely eating a rat, despite being not much bigger than me I could already guess who would be the dinner if I tried to fight it. I chose to quietly go back.

With another creature of the underground out of my menu I attempted to undo my steps and go back to a safer zone.

I walked until I could only see normal rats around, I was pretty sure I was back in a relatively safe location. This place was too scary.

‘No… being a rat in this place is what’s scary.’

It looked like every inhabitant of these corridors fed on or killed rats for a living, only the crabs and little bugs were under me in the food chain.

I was getting really hungry, and not only that. I was also starting to lose my focus. I had been wandering the hallways for hours with barely any sleep, yet I was unable to rest with so many dangers lurking around. I’d only taken a couple of short naps in the small sewer-like tunnels where the humans couldn’t reach me.

‘But those lizards can fit inside them.’

It was a frightening thought, I could forget about safety in this place. The only way would be to grow bigger, like those muscular rats, but that would surely take some time.

‘They could even be a different species.’

I had seen some normal rats that were bigger than me but none of them looked more muscular, nor had fur in its tail.

Growl~.

I needed to eat something soon, those grayish crabs didn’t look so unappetizing now. I decided that if I was unable to find anything else before I reached the next corner I would give them a chance.

I advanced slowly, examining the lateral sewer-like tunnels, hoping to find something that looked at least half edible. I continued in that fashion until I heard a commotion ahead.

My first reaction was to flee, a pack of noisy rats had always been a bad omen. Yet the hunger was pressing me. After a moment of hesitation, I decided to take a look. If I heard human sounds or pained rat shrieks I would turn around and run away immediately.

I arrived at the source of the commotion, it didn’t take long to see what was going on. The bloody remains of a rat were being devoured by its peers.

‘There isn’t much left.’

My first impression surprised me. I should be horrified at the sight, not evaluate if the meal was almost over. But there was some reason for that notion. I should be feeding right now, not judging the scene.

I chose a solitary rat that had managed to catch a big chunk and slowly approached it from behind. Once I was close enough I decisively bit at the meat in its mouth hoping to get a portion for myself.

I succeeded and started to run. Joy filled my chest as I escaped to a quiet place where I could eat my spoils.

Suddenly my escape was cut short by a sharp pain on my tail.

‘Damn!’

I wanted to continue fleeing, but the rat that had bitten me wasn’t letting me go. I turned around prepared to defend my food.

‘You, asshole!’

It was the same rat that had been eating the meat, it had let go of its portion to pursue me. This bastard was very resentful. I also dropped my part and got ready to fight back.

My first reaction was to aim at its face, thankfully the dumb rat had grabbed my tail by the tip, so I had enough freedom to move.

I attacked and managed to draw blood from an old scar on its nose, the rat squealed in pain. I wasn’t planning to let it strike back so I bit again, this time closer to the eye.

There was no time to think, I had to overwhelm my enemy and make it retreat. I shook my head to deepen the wound. The beast broke free and pulled back, turning its body around.

I took the chance to take revenge, closing my teeth on the base of its tail. The rat shrieked loudly and I bit deeper, drawing quite a lot of blood.

‘Ha ha! Now I have the upper hand.’

The dumb beast tried to turn around to face me and I went for its head. This time the rat tried to avoid me, but I was able to bite its neck and held it tight. My adversary was left with no way to counterattack.

I was doing quite well for my first fight. I had not sustained any severe bounds yet, and as things were going I might even be able to kill this rat and make it into my food.

Suddenly I felt a bite on my side, I didn’t have time to get surprised before I sensed another nibble.

‘The other rats are attacking me!’

The pack was surrounding me, those damned beasts were coming for me to help their comrade. I struggled frantically, now it was time to flee. If they were to pin me down I was done for.

“Shriik!”

I screamed in pain and anger as more and more rats bit my flesh. I was unable to escape and it hurt everywhere, only my face was safe.

“SHRIIK!”

That didn’t last long, the resentful bastard took the opportunity to break free and closed his teeth on my face. I noticed the hot blood flowing down my neck as the pain increased.

I was slowly losing my sight. I could only feel the agonizing pain of my bounds and the nibbles of the rats.

Soon even those sensations disappeared and I only saw a blinding whiteness.

Finally, the nothingness arrived.