Survival Games

Chapter 1

         There was utter chaos everywhere. The clang of keys had tipped off the captors far earlier than Lila would have liked, they had not prepared for this. The brown furred mouse had gathered what few brave enough fellow mice she could, and lead them in sneaking into the back store room where dozens more of their kind were being held captive. Their goal was to free as many as possible. They had entered the facility just fine, waited patiently while Lila stole a spare key by sneaking in through a hole in the storage locker, and made their way to the cages.
         And then, on the third door, Jake had fumbled and dropped the key. The already panicking former captives had lost all self-control and started to run in all directions. Lila had tried to keep a sense of calm, but she knew it would be no good. Already the door into the storage room had opened and two silhouetted figures were moving in. She spied Jake, already bolting towards the hole they had come in from, a cluster of mice following now that they knew the way out.
         Lila tried to get over there, tried to usher as many of the others in that direction as she could. But her attempts to get the others’ attention were being drowned out by the frantic cries of those around her and the angry hissing of the two feline keepers that were even now rounding up as many as they could. Mice were re-captured by the handful and tossed back into their cages, too immobilized by fear to attempt to flee again. The doors had a rubber seal and there was nothing else in this room, so the mice had nowhere to run but the one tiny hole in the wall.
         Lila cursed and started running for it. Most of the mice still hadn’t seen it and what few had were now being cut off. One of the guards had seen the escape and thrown one of his gloves at it, creating a blockade. Two mice were attempting to push the glove aside and escape, but those moments had been enough and now the guard was upon them. He scooped them up, tossing them to his partner before cramming his glove into a tightly wedged ball into the hole, sealing off their escape.
         Lila froze. The rescue raid had failed, and now she was trapped. She looked frantically around for somewhere to hide, somewhere to run before a tight grip enveloped her frail body for a few moments until she was hurled into one of the cages. The impact knocked her out cold…

         ** ** **

         ‘Unngh…’ Lila groaned as she slowly woke up. Her head was pounding and her left shoulder felt like she had been kicked by a rabbit. She tried to focus her vision, to see where she was but her throbbing head and shoulder just wouldn’t allow it. Her vision filled with stars and she fell back.
         ‘Easy.’ A pair of arms caught her, and the voice was one she recognized. It was Aron, one of the ones who had come with her. He carefully dragged her to a wall and propped her against it, sitting down beside her and holding her up. ‘You took quite a hit. I was scared you wouldn’t wake up.’
         ‘Where are we now…?’ She asked.
         ‘In one of the cages.’ Aron answered with a sigh.
         ‘How many got out?’ Her voice was trembling, filled with fear but at the same time Lila was hoping something good might have come of this.
         ‘I counted roughly a dozen before that cat blocked the escape off.’ Aron replied. ‘Jake made it out, and I haven’t seen Elia so I guess she did too. But…’ He trailed off, looking at the cage they were in and the many other cages around them. A few were empty, but most were not. ‘We didn’t get as many out as we’d hoped.’
         ‘Well four of us came in…’ She said weakly. ‘I guess if a dozen or so got out that’s… that’s something at least isn’t it?’ She didn’t hear Aron’s reply, instead falling back to sleep.

         ** ** **

         When she awoke again, she was lying on her side on a soft bed of straw. The pain in her head and her shoulder had faded, and she was now able to open her eyes without a struggle. The sight of the straw beneath her gave her a brief glimmer of hope before she noticed the plastic beneath it. Looking up, it became apparent that she was no longer in the cage, but instead a plastic tank. The lid was also plastic, sealed around the edges with a small lid in the middle. It would be impossible to climb, and impossible to open from the inside.
         There were other mice in the box with her. An ambient noise, like a crowd of people could be heard but the transparent sides of the box were covered by something, like a cloth that had been put over top. She wondered if Aron had figured out what was going on.
         Aron? Her attention snapped back to the other mice sitting around the tank. She counted nineteen others, making twenty of them but not one of them was her friend.
         ‘Aron?’ She called out, already knowing and fearing the worst. ‘Oh no…’
         ‘Your friend is probably in a different box.’ One of the others said impassively. ‘They didn’t care who was friends with who, and why should it matter? We’re all just gonna get sold off and eaten by some cat or another as snacks.’
         Lila sank to her knees and slouched against the wall. Even as she gave a slow sad not of thanks to her fellow captive, she had come to realize her situation. Twenty mice for sale in some feline marketplace. She took another look around her plastic prison, confirming that there really was no escape and sighed in defeat. She had tried to stop exactly this from happening to others. And now it was her fate as well.

         ** ** **

         Twenty minutes or so passed before something bumped the tank, and the cloth was lifted on one side letting more light in. It was immediately blocked by a large pair of feline eyes peering in, scanning the contents before withdrawing and dropping the shade once more. For a few tense moments it seemed as though nothing further would happen. Then the whole place suddenly lurched to the side, throwing most of the mice to the floor and causing them all to squeak in surprise and terror.
         There was a brief clanging of coins somewhere outside and a voice said thank you. After this the tank rocked steadily, and it was clear that they were moving. Someone had… bought them, and was no doubt taking them home where one by one they’d become mere food for a careless carnivore.
         ‘I’ve never seen this sort of thing happen before.’ One of the others said, the grey fur of her cheeks matted where she’d been crying. ‘I mean I always knew, but seeing it and being here… It just makes it so much more real… So terrifying.’
         ‘I’ve seen one of their markets before.’ Another spoke up. He had the look of age and wisdom, though at a second glance Lila could see that it was not age, but harsh experience that had weathered him. ‘Horrible places. Filled with captive prey creatures to be sold off. The cats that hunt profit off the ones that have more important things to do. Just like foragers and diggers back in the colonies at home…’
         The mention of home brought on a grim silence. Pleasant memories, not so pleasant memories. All of them about to be ended by their new owner, a cat who wouldn’t think twice of making any of them into a snack at whim.

         They were moving for about ten minutes, the cat evidently living within walking distance of the markets. The sound of a door opening and closing after a few more steps signalled that they had reached the place where their lives would end. The container was deposited heavily onto a surface somewhere and the shade cover was suddenly torn away. The light was intense for a few moments, causing Lila to blink a few times before her eyes adjusted and she saw the cat who for all intents now owned her very life.
         He was dark furred, a deep grey with white spots on his shoulders and elbows. His hands and wrists were the same white fur, almost looking like gloves. He wore a green singlet and similarly coloured pants. So far he hadn’t looked at the mice since he had dropped the container on his kitchen bench, and a cursory glance revealed that the shade had fallen off with his rough handling rather than being pulled off as she had thought.
         Lila looked at the other mice, most of them were huddled together in small groups of three or four. The wizened male who had spoken earlier was the only one apart from her to be on his own, but even he had fear in his eyes and shuffled to the edge of the tank when the feline finally turned his attention to his purchase.
         ‘Hm. Nice batch.’ He mumbled to himself as he leaned in close. His amber coloured eyes scanned across them, sparing nobody a second glance until he reached Lila. A small smile spread across his lips as his hand reached for the lid and lifted it open with a soft click. Lila’s heart raced as she prepared for the merciless grip she was sure was coming.
         A scream came from behind her, causing her to tear her gaze from the cat’s own. He had plucked one of the other mice, the same who had spoken to her earlier. The two she had been huddled with had scattered, too afraid to try and help, or perhaps realizing just how futile such an act would be. Lila stayed frozen in place, but slowly turned back to look at the cat outside. He was still staring back at her, even as the lid snapped shut and he brought the terrified mouse to his lips.
         Lila pressed her hands to the plastic and shook her head, unable to form words. It was only now that the cat broke his eyes from her horrified expression to stand up and flick his chosen prey between his lips. The mice below watched in terror as she was unceremoniously splayed across his tongue to be stolen from their sight moments later when his lips closed around her.
         ‘No…’ Lila fell back and closed her eyes, not wanting to watch anymore. It was of little comfort, the audible wet slurps and smacks of the feline enjoying his snack too close and too loud to drown out with her thoughts. His prey’s cries for mercy could also be heard, but clearly they were unheeded. After a few more agonizing moments, the loud wet gulp she had dreaded rang out, and Lila at last dared to open her eyes again.
         And immediately wished she hadn’t. If only she’d waited a second longer she wouldn’t have seen the bulge sliding down the grey furred neck to vanish into his chest. Their captor licked his chops and yawned, giving them all a terrifying view of their soon to be last sight while showing beyond all doubt that their former fellow mouse was now gone. With this, he flicked a light switch and left the room in darkness before heading out through a doorway.
         So it was night, and the first victim had simply been a bedtime snack. Lila rolled over in the soft straw. Curled up on her own and making sure nobody could see her face, she finally allowed the tears to start falling. She wanted to believe there could be a way out of this. But right now she just couldn’t.