The city was in a time of turmoil, suffering from the worst rat infestation and spread of The Disease any city had ever seen. The buildings shreiked. No one was sleeping. The streets were full of broken glass. Every corner smelled of vomit and alcohol. Distant thunder signaled an imminent arrival of a storm. It was an environment well suited for a rat. Every rat's primary purpose of existence is to spread disease. But at the moment, Richie the Rat's purpose was to find cheese. This was because if Richie wanted to continue spreading the disease, he needed to survive. To survive he needed to eat. And he really wanted some cheese. Richie the rat traversed the sewage system, emerging from the gutters to rummage through the filth that lined the streets. Scurrying back into the gutter, Richie traveled two blocks east to his favorite beachside seafood spot. This was where Richie found his first prize of the night: lightly salted Swordfish that had been thrown out early in the day to ferment in the hot, hot summer sun. His favorite part was the eye ball. He called it the Swordfish Starburst. His mouth salivated as he removed the fish eye from it's socket. The outer layer was soft and gooey, and as Richie bit down into the center of the eye it popped with an explosion of rich, rotten flavor. The rotten fish eye was delicious, but it wasn't cheese. Richie was still hungry. He went on the move again through the streets. It was late into the night and the drunks were out. They roamed from bar to bar without much purpose. Not only were their bellies full of alcohol, but many of them were sick with The Disease. They were Sickos. Richie arrived at the front curb in front of his favorite ice cream parlor. It was full of Sickos. A tall lanky man stumbled out of the building and fell to his knees near the curb of the street. Neon green vomit spewed from his mouth and pooled in front of him. Richie didn't have much of a sweet tooth, but he struggled to resist the smell of sour vomit. He indulged himself in the rancid nodule of green bacteria that he found in the pool of puke. Just next door, Richie found his way to a moist alleyway where there was a dumpster for the local deli. This was where Richie was hoping to find his favorite discarded cheeses. He climbed through a hole at the base of the rusty dumpster. Inside, it was dark. He couldn't see in the darkness but he used his nose to follow the scent of cheese. His sharp little yellow teeth chewed through the polyethylene garbage bag, releasing a small trove of putrid cheese. His eyes glowed with excitement as he examined his dairy discovery. After agressively sniffing the cheese, he took a slow and thoughtful bite. It was a delicious Manchengo covered with a velety layer of blue mold. He put the rest of his cheese in his pocket to save for later. The air cooled and the night got dark as the clouds eclipsed the moon. The rain came down slowly but it fell in large water droplets. The thunder rolled in louder and then suddenly there was a disturbing noise that was not thunder. The horrific noise grew louder than the thunder and filled the air. It was like the sound of static and bending metal. The Sickos were repulsed by the noise and ran from the streets to take shelter. The rats, however, did not run away. They emerged from the dark corners that they typically lurked in. The rats were charmed by the noise. To them it wasn't actually noise at all. It was music. Richie scurried out to the main street to find the source of the beautiful melody. There was a giant that stood as tall as the buildings. His arms were nothing but flesh and bone. His skeletal finger was pointed to the gulf, and his other hand beckoned the rats to come follow his music. The tall figure turned his head back and down toward Richie. Richie stared at the face of the giant, who had a television for a head and on the television there was static. The static wasn't purely noise, though. As Richie peered deeply into the television monitor, he could make out a sinister face that was formed by patterns in the static. Millions of rats and mice funneled out from every buidling, gutter, and garbage can as they were lured by the noise coming from this pied piper. The noise threw every rat into a mania. They were driven to follow the giant and nothing else. Many rats were even crawling up the legs of the giant to get closer to the source of the noise. When it seemed like the giant collected every rat and mouse that existed, he went out of town and the entire throng of rats and mice scampered behind him. He led them directly into the gulf. He entered the warm water and the rodents eagerly followed him into the ocean where the rip tide was especially strong due to the impending storm. At least two million rats were all swept away by the swift current and drowned. Richie was among the rats that followed the pied piper into the dangerous waters. Richie was unlike other rats, though, because he did not drown. Richie was a strong swimmer. Richie knew how to survive. He coughed up water as he crawled back into the shore.