Europe, distant future. A meteorite impacted on the area of Russia, turning the area into a dead zone. Moreover, it emits a strange radiance which increases the impact survivors and their offsprings' endurance and strength, but also causing them to...
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Before Isaiah returns, I distract myself by observing the fight of two groups of rats that gathered in a nearby backstreet. One group of rats is dark gray like a rotting concrete all around us, the second looks white because they have been probably digging through the debris and crumbled plastering.
The leader of the Grays is about three times bigger than an average rat. The Radiance evolved its paws into sharp claws stained with dried blood of its past victims. One of its teeth is protruding upwards like a tusk, digging a groove into its upper jaw. Its hateful red eyes scan the opponent.
The leader of White rats is much smaller and almost without mutations, except for long and muscular limbs that probably allow it to climb walls better.
I already know how will the fight end. The bigger and stronger always wins. In a few minutes, the long-legged rat will end up in a puddle of blood. The Grays will prevail and conquer this territory.
The ordinary rats form a neat circle around their leaders, almost like an arena. For a while, the leaders hiss at each other, flaunting their strengths. The gray rat is much louder and more aggressive. The white one seems to be reconciling with incoming defeat.
One of the fake attacks of the gray rat finally turns out to be real and the battle breaks out.
Right at the beginning, the white pack leader receives several bad injuries caused by its opponent's tusk and claws. The blood starts to wash off the white debris off his fur, making it harder to tell which rat is which. Screaming and squeaking of both the leaders and their packs are painful to listen to, but I can't stop watching. There's some kind of wicked beauty in the Dead Zone's brutality.
The white rat is barely able to continue fighting. It tries to escape several times, but the pack of his opponent forms an impenetrable wall which holds it inside. And the gray rat is preparing for the final strike.
My guess was right. The Dead Zone never forgives weakness.
So why am I still alive?
The gray rat finally rushes forward to impale the opponent with its tusk. But at the last second, the other rat uses its powerful legs to jump up into the air. It lands on the gray rat's back and thrusts its claws into the gray's flesh so it doesn't fall off.
The gray rat squeaks and tries to shake the opponent off, but the white leader's willpower is stronger. It uses its teeth to repeatedly bite the opponent's neck, again and again, until it hits the jugular. A geyser of blood emerges from the gray rat's throat, sprinkling the rodents standing nearby. And the white leader still refuses to let go. Did it just use its sheer will to live to break the Dead Zone's law?
In a while, the gray rat finally dies, most of his blood splattered on the dark concrete. The ring of rodents stays in perfect silence. Then finally, the white leader lets out a battle cry and its pack brutally attacks the gray leader's subordinates.
