Awake (4 page)

Arms and legs fanned out against the wall,
the rat squeaked, “I know it’s my fault, but what can I do? Please,
please forgive me. Let me go and I promise I’ll never do anything
bad again!”

Luna smiled. “I find it interesting to see
you rats on the move. You’re already invading the humans’ territory
openly. Do you know about the problem the humans are facing?”

“You mean the sleeping?”

Luna nodded.

“Well, everyone knows that. Even—” The rat
shut up, clasping a paw over his mouth.

Luna drew closer, her fishy breath flowing
into the rat’s face. “Even what?”

The rat suddenly looked guilty of something.
“Listen, there is something I can do, I think. If it’s information
you want, I can take the kids down. But only if you promise not to
hurt me.”

“Down?” His eyes widening, Genesis also drew
near and said, “You mean—”

“Yes,” said the rat, “I can bring the kids
to see the Nexus.”

- The Nexus -

The Nexus. Kevin wasn’t sure what a Nexus
was. Genesis simply explained that, at least for the rats, it was a
meeting place. A meeting place of rats. A place stuffed with lots
and lots of rats. If anything, it sounded more disgusting than
useful.

Everyone stood over the manhole in the
street, looking down into the darkness below. All they could see
was the faint image of flowing sewage. A variety of strange odors
rose up from the depths, unpleasantly tickling their noses. Only
the rat seemed to find pleasure in such nefarious stenches.

“Did you find a source of light?” Genesis
asked.

Holding up a flashlight, Kevin replied,
“Yeah. Found one in the glove compartment.”

Andrew adjusted his glasses. “So you’re sure
Genesis and Luna can’t come?”

The rat sat up and put its paws on its hips,
acting rather strict. “Absolutely not. They are enemies. Humans are
the enemy too. But since you are kids, they will be more
lenient.”

Genesis added, “It’s too difficult for us to
go up and down ladders anyway.” He paused. “I don’t like this idea
of sending you kids alone, but we don’t have a choice. We have to
abide by their rules. And the Nexus is the only resource we can
turn to right now.”

Kevin took out his cell phone and gave it to
Genesis. “Here, you can keep my cell. Andrew’s got the number.
We’ll contact you if things get out of hand.”

Genesis nodded, holding the cell phone in
his mouth.

The two boys descended down the ladder. The
sewer was spacious and there was a place for them to walk.

“Come, come,” said the rat, gesturing with a
paw, “this way.”

They headed through the tunnel, watching
their step. Kevin waved the flashlight around and was surprised to
see that this particular sewer system did have some dim
square-shaped lights built along the walls. His flashlight was
fairly weak, so it was a welcome surprise.

After they walked for nearly ten minutes,
the rat came to a stop, its whiskers twitching. There were no more
lights. It was utter darkness. Extending his hand, Kevin shone his
flashlight ahead. The light reflected off little glowing dots,
which were strewn across the walkway. They were eyes—hundreds of
tiny eyes. They had reached a gathering of rodents.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

The gray rat said, “It’s me, Norman. I just
brought a couple of kids from the surface.”

A large rat stepped into the light. It was
almost a foot long. Kevin supposed it was a guard rat.

The guard said, “Norman, why’d you bring
these humans down here?”

“They helped me. To repay the favor, I want
to take them to the Nexus. It’ll be quick and I promise they won’t
cause trouble.”

“Helped you?” Sounding skeptical, the guard
said, “Some of my men have informed me that a rat has been seen in
the company of the accursed human pets. Were you forced into
this?”

Frightened, Norman replied, “No! The cat had
nothing to do with it.”

“So there was a cat?” The large rat snapped,
“You should have fought that cat to the death!”

Ashamed, Norman averted his eyes. “But I had
no chance…”

The guard rat ordered his fellow rats, “Send
Norman down to the cleaning pool! Wash him clean of the beloved
filth!” He examined the two boys with a scornful glare. “As for
you, humans, get out of here! Scram! We want nothing to do with
you!”

“Wait!” A small rat scurried through the
furry crowd. “Hold it right there!”

The guard said to the small rat, “What is
it?”

The small rat replied, “The queen has
commanded these kids be sent to her.”

“T-the queen? Why would she—”

The small rat shrugged. “I know
nothing.”

The large rat scowled. “What is she
thinking? Fine. Bring them to the queen.”

The sea of rats parted before them, leaving
some walking room for them to continue down the tunnel. Norman,
however, wouldn’t be joining them. Looking timid and sad, he was
dragged away by a couple of black rats.

Andrew asked Kevin, “Should we go?”

Kevin shrugged. “We’re at their mercy.”

The two boys followed the trail given them.
Numerous rodents stayed on their guard, watching the boys
carefully. Most of these creatures were brown and gray, making it
hard to see them. Kevin kept his flashlight pointed to the ground
to watch where he was stepping. Andrew avoided eye contact with the
rats. The furry creatures seemed to be glaring at them. Even though
they made no sounds, he could tell that they resented humans by
their harsh stares.

The sewers opened up more as they went in
deeper. When they reached a spacious chamber, the rats stopped
leaving a way for them to walk across. The rats surrounded them,
appearing as a thick blotchy carpet.

All of a sudden the rodents began squeaking,
causing a loud commotion. Kevin noticed a small rat setting a lit
candle over a podium made from cheap plastic crates. Then a giant
white rat crawled up the podium and sat down, its ruby eyes shining
by the flame. Its fur was well groomed and shiny.

The white rat said, “Welcome, children. You
may call me Queen. I am ruler of Korgen.” Her manner of speaking
was very elegant. “My servants have informed me of your coming as
well as the purpose of your visit. I know that you have come
seeking the Nexus. However, I’m afraid I cannot allow that.”

Kevin said, “Why not?”

“The Nexus is not something for
outsiders.”

“But the world is in trouble! The humans
can’t wake up! They’ll all die!”

“So? The humans are not our concern.”

Kevin said, “Don’t you need the humans to
live? Don’t you eat our garbage?”

“You misunderstand. We will suffer, but we
will adapt. Things will change, sure, but it will be for the
better. We will look for other food sources. The natural order of
things will rebalance, as it always has and always will.”

Kevin bit his lip. “There’s nothing you can
do for us?”

“For you there is but one thing. I brought
you here to warn you, dear children. Leave the city at once.”

“Leave? Why?”

“A great power is coming—one that will seek
your life. You will be in grave danger should you choose to stay
any longer.” She turned away and hopped off the crate. “Now be on
your way and heed my advice. Leave the city and never return.”

“You can’t be serious!” Kevin desperately
shouted, “We have nowhere to go! If you don’t help us, no one will.
Please! There’s got to be more you can do for us!”

Her red eyes gleaming, the queen said
coldly, “Help you? You still don’t understand. We
hate
humans. The only reason I offer you this warning is because you are
still children, still innocent. Save yourselves. Forget the others.
The humans brought this upon themselves. It is their problem, not
ours.” She went to a crack in the wall big enough for her to
squeeze through.

“Wait!” Kevin shouted after her, “What do
you mean by that? You’re saying we did this? Whatever’s happening
is our fault?” The queen disappeared into the crack. He screamed,
“Come back here! I’m talking to you!” His teeth clenched, he
groaned in frustration.

Andrew tugged on the back of Kevin’s shirt.
“Kevin, let’s just go.” He was getting nervous. He was afraid that
Kevin’s outburst might have been an insult to the queen or to the
rats around them.

“Yeah,” said Kevin, “this was a waste of
time. The Nexus is probably stupid anyway.”

Kevin turned to leave. When he took his
first step, he felt something squishy beneath the sole of his foot.
He swallowed. Inside, he felt as though his heart sank down into
pit of his stomach and stayed there. Full of anxiety, Kevin
wondered if he should move his foot.

Worried, Andrew asked, “What’s wrong?”

Kevin whispered, “I think I’m stepping on a
rat.”

Andrew didn’t quite hear him. “What? You
think you’re—”

“Keep your voice down!” Kevin motioned for
Andrew to draw closer. Kevin whispered into Andrew’s ear, “I think
I might be stepping on a rat, but I’m not sure.”

Andrew said fearfully, “What should we
do?”

Kevin said, “I don’t know. I feel like I’m
stepping on a landmine and I don’t know if it’s a dud or not.”

“Then just lift up your foot and kick it out
of the way.”

“Just like a landmine?”

A tiny voice squeaked, “Help…”

The rats quickly surrounded the boys.
“What’s going on here? Where’d that voice come from? Lift up your
foot, kid.”

“Too late,” said Andrew.

Kevin lifted his foot up. He winced as he
realized he had been stepping on a little white rat. Hundreds of
high-pitched gasps echoed around them as the rats shouted in
horror.

“It’s the prince! The prince is dead!”

“They killed him! Murderers!”

“They’re assassins sent by the HPC!”

“Seize them! Don’t let them get away!”

Three dreadfully long hours had passed since
the two boys first entered the sewers. Kevin and Andrew sat inside
a massive broken pipe that had been grated on both ends to keep
them from escaping. Their only source of light was a few candles
around the walkways, but some of the candles were starting to
smolder. They quietly listened to the sound of pitter-patter of
water drops and the sloshing of murky sewage against the
concrete.

There was an elite squad of guard rats
watching over them. Two rats were posted on each side of the short
pipe and almost a dozen more were in the vicinity. Using marker
caps as helmets, these brown rats marched around in circles, armed
with sharp butter knives.

Groggier than ever, Kevin sat up and yawned
several times. The effects of the coffee were wearing thin. His
clothes could not save him from the cold. He trembled, keeping his
arms close to his chest. His eyes wandered wearily across the rats,
envying their small fur coats. Smacking his lips, he looked at
Andrew, who appeared to be in worse shape. Andrew was lying down,
curled in the fetal position.

Kevin asked him, “How are you holding
up?”

Andrew looked at him briefly, and then
closed his eyes. “I don’t know. I’m tired. I’m also pretty hungry
and uncomfortable. That’ll keep me awake, but I might not last
long.”

Kevin flicked his wrist and checked his
watch. “It’s past noon. I’ve been awake for over thirty-six hours.
That’s a first for me.” Kevin glanced at the guards. He could tell
that they were starting to get drowsy by the way they rubbed their
eyes.

“Make the call,” whispered Kevin. “They
might not notice.”

Andrew nodded. He reached into the pockets
of his slacks, searching for the phone.

Unfortunately for them, the guards noticed.
“Hey, what do you have there?”

Kevin whispered, “We’ve got to let Genesis
know we’ve been caught.”

Andrew started the speed dial.

Several guards crawled through a hole in the
grate and approached the boys warily, brandishing their butter
knives. The leader said, “Hand it over kid and no one gets
hurt.”

“Okay,” said Andrew, chucking the cell phone
forward. “It’s all yours.”

“A phone?” The guard eyed Andrew. “Who did
you just call? Speak!” He jabbed Andrew in the leg with the knife.
Andrew yelped.

The guard continued by presenting the tip of
his knife. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll prod you even harder! You
don’t want that, do you? These knives have been cultured with
various strains of deadly bacteria. If it punctures your skin, who
knows what you’ll end up with.”

Whoosh
. The sound of wind swept
across the pipe. The guard shrieked and keeled over.

The guard rats watched as their leader fainted.
While most of the rats kept watch, one went to inspect the leader’s
body.

“He’s paralyzed. Been shot in the back with a blow
dart!”

The rats whirled around, their eyes scanning
the area. Then a few rats squeaked in shock and collapsed.

“Over there!” A guard pointed up. “Someone’s
up there!”

A long piece of string touched down to the
ground, and a black rat came sliding down it. All the brown rats
charged at the black rat, wielding their butter knives like lances.
The black rat skillfully dodged their attempts to pierce him,
jumping over them with incredible nimbleness. As the black rat
emerged behind two of the brown rats, it karate-chopped them,
knocking out both guards immediately. Another guard attempted to
stab the outsider. The black rat easily knocked the head of the
knife to the ground, ran up the blunt of the knife, and kicked the
guard across the jaw, causing him to reel backwards. The remaining
guards turned ghostly white at the sight of this amazingly
dangerous black rat.

Motioning, a guard shouted, “Retreat! We
need reinforcements! We can’t defeat him alone!” The brown rats all
agreed and ran for their lives.

“You’re not getting away that easily,” said
the black rat. It pulled out a blowpipe. Aiming for their backs, he
shot down all the guard rats with tiny blow darts. Their bodies
falling to the ground, the brown rats squeaked and fainted one
after the other.