Rat Attack

                                                                      RAT ATTACK
The sun disappeared behind the tall buildings and street lights began to wink on.  Shadows crept into doorways and alleys.  The stench of the city rose from sewers and dumpsters and hung in the air like an invisible shroud.  Darkness settled down on Greenwich Village and its nocturnal denizens stirred.

A huge black rat, its fur matted and dripping with gutter slime, crawled out of a sewer and sniffed the air.  Nearby, several large black rats crawled out of an overturned garbage can.  Up and down the street, more rats poked their noses out of nests and lairs and then scurried out to join the others.  Soon a small army of rats had amassed.  They milled around the street until, as if by some unheard signal only they could hear, they turned as one and swarmed up 6th Avenue like a herd of tiny buffalo.

Something moved in a darkened doorway.  An alley cat stepped out. The cat spotted the approaching horde, arched its back and hissed, then it dropped into a crouch and broke and ran.  The rats continued up the street paying the cat no attention.  Some stopped, fornicated quickly, and then rejoined the pack. 

The lead rats came upon a fast-food sack.  Inside were the remnants of a sandwich and a few French fries.  They swarmed over the bag, ripping and tearing and fighting each other for the contents.  The sandwich and fries disappeared in seconds. 

The rats moved steadily onward, running along the sidewalk and gutter and spilling into the street.  A drunken derelict, passed out under a pile of newspapers, stirred in an alley.  The rats were on him in seconds.  His screams went unheard.  He tried to get to his feet, but he was too drunk to fight back.  Within minutes he gurgled deep in his throat, a hoarse, wet, coughing, gargle and went limp.  A young rat, bloody from head to tail, squeezed out of the derelict’s lipless mouth.  A gush of blood, like vomit, filled with scraps of intestines followed.  Another rat dug shoulder deep into an eye socket.  Scrabbling and pushing with his bloody rear legs he dug deeper until only his hairless tail showed.  Other rats crawled under the derelict’s clothing and ripped the flesh off of his bones like a school of Piranhas.  They left the old man a fully clothed skeleton.

The aroma from a fried chicken restaurant across the street caught the rat’s attention.  A number of the horde broke away and headed for it.  Several doors down a Mexican fast food restaurant had closed for the night.  Some rats swarmed into the chicken restaurant; others headed down the street to the Mexican place. The big black rodents climbed up pipes and squeezed through cracks and open windows.  They waded through the grease pits and into the restaurants.  Once inside the rats grabbled through sacks and boxes and spilled the food onto the floor. They climbed into flour bins and gnawed holes into plastic food bags. 

A lid clattered to the floor exposing a pan of cooked corn.  The rats jumped into the pan, sloshing in the juice, chewing, drooling and defecating.  Soon the corn was gone and rat droppings floated in the liquid.

A pregnant female crawled behind a deep-fat fryer and gave birth.  Across the room another female burrowed into a pile of greasy rags and built a nest.  Now the rats prowled, their bellies full, seeking hiding places.

Daylight played through the windows.  A key rattled in the door and lights came on.  Somebody screamed followed by a curse and then a babble of excited voices.  The swishing of brooms and mops and the whir of vacuum cleaners bothered the rats and they stirred in their hideouts.  Somebody sloshed a strong smelling liquid across the floor.  The rats sniffed and then burrowed deeper into their nests, hiding from the acrid odor.

The doors opened, people crowded in and formed lines.  Then they left clutching white paper bags.  Two men with clipboards strode in, walked around taking notes, and then hung a sign with the word “Caution” in bold red lettering on the door.  People paused to read the paper.  Most turned away, some entered. 

Darkness gripped Greenwich Village once again and the rats came out of their hiding places and dug into food stores.  A loud snap broke the silence followed by a scream and the sounds of a struggle.  Then another snap, another struggle, and then another and another.  The rats writhed and screamed.  Their eyes bulged, blood ran from their mouths and noses and then they fell silent.  Behind the deep-fat fryer a mother rat nursed a squirming mass of babies.  Across the room another mother rat nursed a large brood of baby rats.  Nothing else moved.