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The rats after devouring the carrion now focused their
attention back to Larry. More of the hideous creatures had emerged; enough of them are present that from Larry's
point of view it looked like a wave of brown moving towards him. Powerless, he watched as they advance on him.
Even with all of his training, he couldn't put aside the emotions that raged within him as the horrible creatures
descended onto his body. They clawed at his head and ripped at his face. He could feel several of them gnawing
at his fingers, their sharp teeth pierced his skin and rendered his flesh. The sound of the animals squealing was
deafening as they bit his ears. Larry lunged his head forward grabbing one of the foul beasts in his mouth. He
clamped down with his teeth and tasted the salty liquid that spurted from its tiny body. After spitting the rodent
out, he tried for another but it grabbed his lip and pulled ripping the skin. Behind him, the rats had almost chewed
through the ropes and Larry could feel the bonds loosening. With a mighty tug, he broke the final strands. Only
able to bend his arms at the elbow, he reached for the tape across his chest and tore at it with his fingernails.
The rats continued their relentless attack as blood poured from Larry's face. He reached for the creatures on his
chest and threw them only to have them rush back. The tape started to give way as he ripped madly at it. Finally,
he was able to break the tape and reach the vermin on his face. Grabbing them in both hands, he squeezed the life
from each of them and hurled them across the floor. Once he had freed his legs, he bounded up the stairs and burst
into the house above.
A woman, holding a twelve-gage shotgun, whipped around and fired a shot into the floor beside him. Larry rolled
to a table for cover. He only paused a moment before leaping from the floor and tackling the woman. As he sat on
top of her, he saw that she must have been in her sixties. The shock distracted him long enough for the old woman
to knee him in the groin and throw him off her. Larry tried to regain his breath and reached out to grab her before
she could get away. She pulled away from his hands and ran to table, grabbed a large butcher knife, and then rushed
at him. With only seconds to react, he grabbed the shotgun from the floor and fired several shots into the woman's
belly. The force of the blast sent her flying backward into the table where she laid motionless in a pool of blood.
Larry lied on the floor exhausted as he let his body start to relax. The shotgun fell from his fingers with a thud.
Suddenly a door across the room slammed open and the huge man that had grabbed him earlier, burst through. The
giant man looked at the dead body lying on the table and then turned to Larry. With a bone-chilling howl, the man
lunged at Larry who gathered his last bit of strength and wheeled to his feet. He reached for the shotgun, picked
it up, leveling the barrel at the behemoth. Larry squeezed the trigger but only heard the bolt click forward.
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