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"I wonder whats up ahead? Maybe it'll work out. I hope I won't have to fight them, that wouldn't be fair!" The chipper mouse squeaked. 

The skull in her pack did not answer. It hasn’t answered in a long time.

The fishing hamlet is just up ahead. She never liked the ocean, it stinks and it’s very salty, but the colony is here and her best shot at surviving is with them. Her kind are solitary and live in a very different climate but with things going as they are, she had no choice but to start moving. 

“Stop right there!” Before she set a single paw through the front gate, a rat climbs down the large wooden fence to her right and aimed his spear at her throat, “Child or not, no mice allowed!” 

She holds her paws up, “But I need shelter! Its almost nighttime, Mister, please!” 

They hunt at night, mice and rats, but its a huge risk nowadays thanks to the those roaches and their other bug friends. Damned humans and their experiments. 

“Whats in the pack? Show me.” The little mouse stepped back to get her mother’s skull out. The rat raised his spear again, letting out a slow growl before shouting, “You’re insane! Whose head is that? Why would you even bring it around?!” 

“It belongs- belonged.. to my mother and I carry it around because I’m not done mourning her, Mister.” The skull is tucked away. The guard’s tail swayed a bit before he turned to his hidden clan, “Its a child! What should I do, Sir?” Over a dozen glowing eyes peeked out from the broken houses and old trash bags. 

The biggest rat of them all walked over, his fur grey with age and red around his eyes. He takes a small whiff of the young mouse. 

“She doesn’t smell infected or… off. Can you work, child? What are you good at?” 

“Hunting.” 

The guard scoffed, “You? You’re puny! What could you possibly do to a cat or an owl?” 

“Well.. I’m a grasshopper mouse!” The girl puffed up with pride, “I’m really good at hunting already, and once I’m grown, I’ll be even better!”

The two rats looked at each other before the leader set his gaze back at the girl, 

“We’ve never met your kind before but if you can work like the adults then we’ll take you in. For now.” 

“Alright/“ 

“Whats your name, girl?” 

“Micma.” 

The cloudy sky did little to dampen the girl’s mood. She had wandered through deserts and fields, all to get here, the last bit of safety for rodent kind. There are other little communities out there, but they were unwelcoming or far too unstable for her to survive in. 

With the guards back on watch, the little mouse followed the leader into the village. 

“Whats in these houses?” 

“Some are filled with too much debris for us to forage in. The ones with scratches along the the walls are not to be entered.” The alpha rat pointed forwards the beach, “See that large ship? Thats where our nests are for now. Once our newest batch of pups are old enough to swim, we will be moving the colony on land.” 

“How is the ship still floating? I thought you needed a human to keep it above water.” The two hurried across the sand and entered the cold ocean.

“The waves are calm today.. so we can talk safely.” The alpha glanced back at her for a moment before looking ahead, “It floats because its a sturdy ship. And made of hard material that we can’t break with our teeth. But strange markings are appearing in some of the rooms. It makes us sick when we approach.” 

“Can the roaches reach you out here? I’ve seen them swim before.” 

“The roaches have sent scouts to our territory over the last few months but we’ve killed them quickly so they can’t report back. But it won’t last long.” 

They reach the side of the ship and climb up the rope to the deck. Its a large ship, but everything is large to them. Micma and the alpha shook off the water as much as they could before grooming their fur. 

“Old enough to groom, at least..” He murmurs. 

“I was old enough to leave anyway when my mother got killed. But, after it happened I couldn’t just leave her body there. The owl got her.” 

“My condolences. And your siblings?” 

“Mother ate them when we were all born. Too little food around and the stress of bigger predators, plus the roaches.” Micma adjusts her pack. Mother rodents eating their young during times of stress or limited resources is not that uncommon. Especially now. Even with their increased intelligence, instincts remain strong. 

The two climb up some damp metal crates and entered the main hall through the broken window on the door. The smell was horrid in here, with fecal matter and piss, and dead things. Micma is almost tempted to sleep outside and risk getting a cold. 

A white rat poked his head out from around the corner and sniffed the air, “Brazton? Is that you? You brought someone?” 

“A new recruit. This is Micma.” The alpha leaned down to whisper, “My brother, Eggland. Don’t tease him just cus’ he can’t see.” 

“I wasn’t going to until you told me his name—“ Micma jumped away when the alpha tried to nip her ear. She hissed and puffed her fur up, “I was just joking!” 

“Watch your mouth, girl!” Braxton snapped. England approached and attempted to calm the two down, “Shouldn’t you be giving her a tour still, Brax? 

“Argh..” Braxton straightened up to briefly clean his face, “Yes, right.. you’d better be worth it, girl. Don’t slack off.” 

“You’ll see my skills if we get some roaches to kill. Or snakes.” 

To be honest, the tour got a little boring to Micma. She wasn’t interested in the nursery rooms or even the food room. It was only when they reached the training room that Micma perked up. 

“What are they doing?” She smiled as they watched the beta rats train the others. 

“Learning how to fight as many creatures as the older generation knows. Most of these youngsters haven’t even fought a roach yet so its up to the elders to pass the information down.” 

“Braxton! A new litter has been born.” A male rat announced from the doorway. 

“How many pups?” 

“Ten.” As the male hurried off to his next post, Braxton gave a heavy sigh, 

“..We’re running out of food.” 

“So stop having so many pups.” 

“Can’t stop instincts.” The two head down the hall to the captain’s quarters. Micma wanted to stay in the training room but Braxton wanted to show her the map of the area. 

Right when they rounded the corner, Braxton saw the roach on the wall and pulled Micma back. He pointed to the wings poking out on it’s back before looking around for anything they could use. Micma carefully and slowly put her pack down and stepped out to face the roach before Braxton could stop her. 

The second the creature flew at her, Micma jumped up and bit into the insect’s head before ripping it’s wings off with her paws. 

“Lets go! If we see one, then there’s more hiding around here!”