Rat squeaking, human speaking

Art by me

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    Seven woke up to the sound he once thought he never hear again: that God awful sound of that stupid shotgun. The Hunter was up, and shooting whatever the hell he was hunting that morning.

The noise was loud, making the boy jump up and hit his head on the top of the dug out bed, holding his now hurting skull and ringing ears. "That was a lot closer..." he muttered.

He slowly got up, the dirt underfoot cool from the previous night air. His oil lamp was off, darkness covering the room, the curtain covering his doorway not letting the torch light outside in.

Seven pulled the curtain open, walking out, almost as though he was on autopilot as he continued on. It felt weird not having Squeaks wake up beside him, normally curled up next to him for warmth.

His thoughts wondered off to when they were in the Depths, when he kicked her off of the bed and made her sleep on the floor, back when he saw her as nothing more then a potential death fodder. Squeaks had been kind enough to try and keep them both warm after he was attacked by a leech and nearly drowned, carrying him to a couch, somehow able to flick his lighter on as she was close to him.

Twice she saved his life: once with the leech and the other with finding the hidden vent that lead them upwards towards the Guest Area, saving them from starving and dying of thirst after he killed their only guide, a Nome, during a hunger spell.

Man, he was a jackass now that he thought about it. He didn't even tell her 'thank you'.

He snapped out of his thoughts as he came to the main room, kids rubbing sleep out of their eyes, some having an early breakfast, while some were sharing brief talk as they got ready for the day.

His eyes trailed over to the Commander's chamber, grumbling as he slowly carried himself towards it. He knew Mono would at least like to know Squeaks was gone, but speaking to him again wasn't something he really wanted to do, let alone be in the same space with him with no one else.

His hand reached for the curtain, but stopped as he heard voices from the other side of the cloth.

"Commander Mono, one of the scouts told me they saw you near the TVs again. Nosebleed told you, it isn't good for you to-"

"Rain, I'm fine, don't worry about me,"

Seven stopped, hearing the two softly speak behind the cloth the blocked them from his sight. What was Rain doing in the Commander's chamber so early? The thought didn't seem to sit right in his chest, but before he could do anymore, the talking stopped. Seven looked up, holding his breath. Had they noticed him somehow?

Suddenly, Rain's soft voice let out a quiet statement, "I... should get going." Seven stumbled out of the way, trying to think of what to say before he was caught.

The curtain opened, Seven meeting his sister's eerie pale green gaze. Despite being hidden under her rich, dark brown bangs, Seven noticed the shadow casted looked a tiny bit off, a bit darker than before. Rain looked at him a bit shocked, but nodded her head as a greetings. Not spending another moment in the tunnel, the Oracle left before a word could be exchanged between them.

For a few heartbeats, Seven stood there, thinking over what he had just encountered. What happened? Why did Rain look upset? Seven gritted his teeth, he swore if that bag wearing-

He took a breath. No, focus. Just go and get this over with. He opened the curtain, not really having anything to knock on, gazing up and seeing the boy in the trenchcoat writing on a piece of tattered paper, ink on his hand as the small, thin stick he use left marks on him.

He looked up at the sudden presence, as though surprised by him. "You're up early," he said.

"Mono, the-"

"Commander,"

"Commander, Mono, the Hunter just woke everyone up not too long ago, didn't you hear it?" Seven had to bite his tongue to fight back the hiss of anger he felt as he was rudely corrected. They were old friends, well, ex-friends technically; but still, why did titles suddenly matter?

Mono rose his head slightly, as though confused, the black holes of his bag hiding any emotion in his eyes. "He did? I must had missed it then, sorry. Is there something I can do for you?"

"I got rid of the feral like you asked, just thought I'd let you know," Seven said in a monotone voice, trying to hide his underlining disgust in the statement.

The Commander gave a nod, a small chirp in his voice suddenly. "That's good news. I know you just came back and all; but do you feel up to doing on a run with the destruction team? I'm sure the newbies will like to have an expert on their side," he said.

A destruction run. Something he actually enjoyed being a part of. At least it was something. With a nod, he agreed to it.

"You know where you're old workspace is then," Mono finished, going back to whatever he was scribbling.

Seven left without a goodbye, not like he was given one in return either. He made his way down a tunnel that stretched out the farthest, where scorch marks were burned into the walls and the sand felt half baked under him. There was no curtain separating the room from the tunnel as it would pose as a fire hazard, but the inside was filtered with oil lamp lighting.

Seven stepped inside, the familiar scent of old lingering gasoline and gunpowder making him smile. Charred roots overheard were withered and useless decorations now, while a desk make of slightly rotting wood stood oddly strong despite its black rotting lines.

He'd had to soak the wood with water to keep it from bursting into flames; but even then, the char and ashes that now were stuck to it gave it an odd charm to it.

He looked over to the corner, seeing old bottles he used to make Molotov cocktails with, animal hide leather straps held small vials of a yellowish liquid in lapels. An old tattered backpack sat underneath it, and as he stepped over to it and opened the latch at the top, the scent of gunpowder got stronger.

Nitroglycerin covered firecrackers sat inside of it, Seven immediately picking them up carefully and placing them in at small bucket of water near the desk.

Some things were obviously old, but most of them looked newer. The vials of gasoline looked shiny and clean, like they had been refilled recently.

"Hey, you're not allowed in here!"

Seven turned at the noise, looking over his shoulder, spotting a boy with a dirty brown tannish colored shirt and darker colored pants. His hair was black, his cheeks slightly chubby with freckles that looked like bread crumbles sprinkled onto him. He wasn't giving all that of an intimidating look he was trying to give him though, not even looking remotely scary.

Seven left the vials and bags alone, stepping towards the other, growling in a challenging tone, "I am allowed, actually. You want to tell me who you are?"

The boy looked scared by the sudden change in demeanor, before fixated on the other. He blinked a few times. "Seven? Seven, it's me, Eight! You know, the kid you liked to called Bread?"

Seven took a moment, confused by what he said until taking another look at him. He did seem slightly familiar, but when did Bread get as tall as him?

"Huh, guess it is you. What are you doing here?"

It was no big shock now that Seven thought about it. Seven normally took those interested in fire under his wing when he was younger and wasn't as hostile. Bread was like an apprentice to him, willing to do anything to make the other happy as they made explosives and new ideas. Seven never allowed him to use the explosives in the field though, for good reasons.

"You'll never believe it, but I was made the new head pyro tech! Isn't that cool!" He cheered.

A chill settled in Seven's blood, a small haunting memory of an old accident rekindling in his mind. They had been running from a monster during a supply run to gather flammables, Bread was carrying a few nitroglycerin covered firecrackers, and tripped. How he escaped with just a burn scar surprised him.

Bread, even from a younger age, was far too dangerous with explosives, even for Seven's taste. Most of the scorch marks on the ground were from him dropping things or knocking things over.

How could Mono let a boy with such a bad reputation with fire become head pyro tech? There were a lot safer and more experienced people he took under his wing he felt more at ease being the producer of so many explosives.

"That's... great, bud!" Seven forced himself to smile. He'd definitely have to convince Mono to let him take over as head again, this was far from safe with Bread being in control of the explosives.

"I'm guessing Commander Mono wants you back in the field again, huh? Aw, man, this is great! I've been working on a few nitroglycerin bomb pouches, kinda like hand made grenades. I could use your opinion on it, you were the former head tech," Bread chimed, as though seemingly rubbing it his face he was unfairly stripped of his old title.

Seven gave a small nod, swallowing back a growl to avoid any unneeded fighting occurring.

Bread smiled brightly, coming over to the water damaged table, picking up some papers with notes on them, back turned as he gathered whatever he was getting. Seven looked around, suddenly looking for things out of place from where they normally were.

He came over to stand by the other, looking around on the desk as Bread reached and grabbed papers with horrible scribbles on it. Most kids taught themselves how to write and read, no one really having the privilege to learn while they were growing up, so most had horrible and very hard to read penmanship.

A flash of one of the papers took his interest immediately. It was a note, a small sketch on it. His heart suddenly raced in his chest, recognizing the old blueprint.

His special Molotov cocktails, a concoction of his own design. He got rid of all of his notes on them, how did Bread even know about them? He only told a few people, and Bread was definitely not one of them.

They were a lot more explosive than the normal Molotov cocktails, just two were needed to take down most of the adult settlements near them. They were designed to be safer, as most kids handling lighters and matches were known to accidentally burn themselves as the clothes lit on fire. Once its bottle casing broke, the gunpowder and nitroglycerin reacted to the force and heat of already burning substance would make the explosion a lot bigger, but mixed the alcohol, the range and fire grew larger.

They were dangerous, which is why he tried to get rid of the idea shortly after he saw the damage they dealt. Why was Bread trying to recreate them?

It was like he swallowed a rock, suddenly very worried and concerned for what all he missed while he was gone. Bread turned, finally getting what he wanted Seven to see.

Seven wasn't fully hearing what he was saying, half in his mind as he thought about what and why the rebellion suddenly needed his Molotov cocktails for. Could they be for The City? There were no other large adult settlements nearby that could handle all of them...

But what could they even use The City for? Kids running around and just using it was a large playground would be a giant waste of space, and even then, there weren't even enough kids in the rebellion to covered a square of it.

He'd had to talk to Rain about this...

***

   Six wasn't quite sure where she was originally going to go, but Bandage lead her to a tree with a old abandoned fox den. He kept her company most of the night, the two sharing stories with the small difficult of the much smaller language barrier between them. It was Six who was doing all of the talking, the small pup being entranced by her tales of living on The Maw with her family.

Six learned quickly that Bandage was being raised by wolves, or at least, he currently was. He explained he was formally with a group of raccoons, thus his bit of understanding for squeaking and growling. He was kicked out after his siblings attacked him for not being like them, being left for dead in the wolf pack's territory, who took him in as he was still a small pup.

He learned Wolf, which was now his main language, he even taught her a little in the small time they spent.

When morning came, the two being woken up by a loud gunshot, Bandage wanted to show her around.

"For fun," he explained. The two now found themselves padding along the riverbank where they first met.

"Okay, so what about your raccoon family?" Six asked, nudging her shoulder against his as they walked, the rat child enjoying the morning sun on her face and paws. The outside world was so great feeling!

"Family with mom and sisters, no brothers, sisters means," he groaned, obviously disliking the last bit. Six gave small giggle, remembering how her foster brother, Frost, would complain about the same thing when they were much, much smaller. "But Six has nasty cooties!" He would shout at their foster mother.

The thought of the white rat made her feel uneasy suddenly. Frost had tried to kill her as she and their foster mother, Marigold, tried to stop a fox from finding Blueberry in The Maw. Marigold had stayed behind and was able to kill him, only to meet the same fate as him as he stabbed her in the side with a sharp piece of glass.

She shook her head, looking to the other, trying to tune out the thought. "Are there any others like us here?" She asked him.

The pup with the feather behind his ear stopped, as thought confused by her questions, before nodding.

"Yes, few but shy. Squirrel, deer, and crow-chaser, they don't come near others," he explained.

Six was surprised by the answer, so there were more like them! She gave a smile, suddenly excited by the thought, maybe she wouldn't feel so out of place here!

Before she could ask anything else, another gunfire made them jump, turning to where the noise came from. It was a lot closer, and it seemed like a few bushes in the distance were moving.

"Hunter," Bandage whispered frantically, turning and running into the tall grass, Six behind him. They kept their heads low, the rat child even shaking her hood down to help keep her more hidden without the bright yellow giving her away.

The sound of grass moving behind them made Bandage raise his small head, looking out to where the gunfire was heard. He dropped down quickly, giving a small growl as they neared the bushes for safety.

Careful to not be hurt by thorns or sharp twigs, they sunk down onto the ground, looking out from underneath leaves towards where the noise was.

A monster, standing tall with a green coat, dark colored pants, and a burlap sack over his head waited and watched near the shallow river. A shiny rifle was held tightly in his brown paws, surveying the ground through a hole in the sack.

He let out a growl, grumbling something in his native tongue the two weren't sure of. He looked over towards their direction, freezing up, before bring the gun up to eye level.

Six tucked herself closer to the ground, muscles tense as she watched with fear. Bandage took a small step back, barely moving a leaf out of the way as he silently retreated back.

The rifle shifted from where it once was fixated on, the monster, the Hunter, suddenly changing targets. The two ferals froze, holding their breaths as they waited with pounding heartbeats hammering loudly in their chest.

It went on for many minutes, before the Hunter lowered his gun slightly, cursing under his breath in his growling voice.

He slowly left, taking many looks around before he finally walked off to where ever he was going next to hunt.

Six gave a sigh, before carefully making her way to Bandage. "You okay?" She asked. The pup nodded, knocking a piece of leaf from his dark brown fur with a paw.

"I thought he see us," he muttered. Six nodded, fully in agreement with him. She never took into account of monsters living on the mainland, despite how obvious it was.

Bandage got up, turning and leaving out from under the bush. "Pack need know," he explained, "you back to tree?"

Six gave another nod. She wanted to ask to join him, but the look on his face told her not to ask. The two parted ways, Six going back to her make shift den, curling up on a horrible excuse of a nest she made with leaves and moss she found on the ground.

"I wonder how Blueberry is doing, I could go later and find him," she muttered, rolling onto her back.

She closed her eyes, feeling herself begin to drift off, before the loud sound of buzzing woke her up.

Confused and curious, she got up, poking her head out of the fox den, looking to where the noise was.

A strange rectangular box began to flash wildly on its strange glass eye. Black, gray, white flashes were scattered across the screen, moving in an alarming frantic rate. The buzzing got louder, to the point it was beginning to hurt her ears.

She gave a groan, covering her head with her paws, ducking back into the den as she curled into a ball, hissing in pain from the noise. It got louder and louder, ringing and blaring into her ears to the point she wanted to claw them off.

The fur on the back of her neck suddenly stood up, like another presence was near, but when she opened her eyes, nothing could be seen. The noise continued for multiple heartbeats, before a sweep of silence flooded the forest.

Six opened her eyes, finding nothing as she began to gasp for breath. Her ears rung slightly from the previous onslaught of noise, but it began to dull after a minute.

The box was no longer flickering, instead showing a dead, darken screen. Six backed up from the den entrance, returning and laying down in her nest, yet couldn't force herself to sleep no matter how hard she tried.

What was that?

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Finished - Feb. 5th/6th

Finally got this chapter done!

Not much to really say this time around, beside thank you for reading this. It means a lot so many people are already beginning to read this.

Hope you all enjoyed! If you did, please leave a vote and comment, and I'll see you all next chapter.

Take care!

* Edited Mar. 15th, 2021 *

Oh boy, this a tiny bit messy, but I only have, like, a 30 minute window at school to fix all of this. Anyways, here we are, chapter 4! I hope you all enjoyed!

Take care!

* Edited May 20th, 2021 *

How tf did you guys read this??

I fixed a lot of details, mostly dealing with Theo future chapters, but they should be all fixed now. Hopefully.

Take care!