Cavalry

The rats were silent, which somehow made the whole thing worse. No squeals, no shrieks, just the thrum of hundreds, maybe thousands, of tiny pairs of lungs all working at once. The alley reeked with their scent.

"What we need now," said Kristen, kicking at one bold climber, "is a really big cat."

With a sudden blaring of a horn and a halogen-bright flash, the car swerved into the alley. A series of tiny thumps punctuated its arrival. The rats shrieked then, swarming. At the rear, they were already circling back to gnaw at the tires.

"Or that," said James.