This is a story of a war between Rats and man. Hope you enjoy it because it was fun to write. Any problems you find please let me know. Hope you enjoy.

                                                Who’s your Daddy?

`You know what will happen if I do it don’t you?’
The Doc, as they called her, nodded and tried not to look down at the nail gun that was pressed against her heart.
`It will kill you, won’t it?’
She nodded again, but then managed to get up the courage to ask a question, `how do you know that’s where my heart is?’
`I don’t,’ Foster answered. `But the way I look at it, if it ain’t your be in to much pain too stop me having another go, and although I would hate to do it I will unless you tell me what I wanna know, clear?’
`Crystal.’
`Good,’ Foster said. `Now, Doc, why’d you chip him?’
The Doc looked down at him, who was in fact called Becks, tied up on the floor.
`I was told to,’ The Doc answered.
`Told to?’ Foster asked. `By the rats.’
`Rats?’ The Doc asked. `No, no, by the Guild.’
`The Guild,’ Foster said. `Those back-stabbing bastards.’

Foster already had his problems with the Guild so this did not endear them to him at all. The rift started when they sent him to catch a rat, not just any rat, but what they called a Daddy Rat. Daddy Rats could grow almost as big as bears, Foster had killed plenty of these in the last year, but he had never had to catch one before. He asked why they suddenly wanted one caught of course, and they answered something big was coming and they needed to know what it was. Foster was going to carry on arguing but Becks dragged him out, for Becks the Guild were gods.
In a lay by on the M25, Foster and Becks almost went to meet the real God. Two
policemen had already meet there maker when a backhand or rather a back paw by a Daddy Rat put Foster on his arse, he spat out a mouthful of blood and a tooth picked himself up and threw himself back into the fray. Both Foster and Becks had now given up trying to catch The Daddy Rat, now they were just happy to kill it, however that was proving a bit of a problem. It took a little while to get the creature into the position where his neck was on the lip of the boot, Becks slammed down the boot on his neck three times and it didn’t even make a mark.
`I got an idea,’ Becks said. `Hold him.’
`Hold him? No, you reckon? I thought I might let him go so he can kill us.’
Becks ignored Foster and climbed up onto the car, the boot was still resting on the
Daddy Rat’s neck so Becks jumped as high as he could and came down with all his
weight onto it’s neck.
`It dead?’
`Does it fuckin’ sound like it?’ Foster shouted over the high pitched screaming of the Daddy. He looked at where the boot had come down on the Daddy’s neck, it had dug in a little way but no where near enough.
`Right,’ Becks shouted, before he jumped up and came down on the boot for the
second time. `Now?’
`No,’ Foster answered trying to keep the giant rat in place, which given that his head was stuck in a boot should have been easy, but it wasn’t.
`Christ sake,’ Becks shouted, coming down on the boot again. `Just . . .’ Foster
watched the lip of the boot go in even deeper. `Bloody die . . .’ Becks came down
again. `. . . please.’
With these final words Becks landed on the boot one last time decapitating the creature and covering Foster in blood.
Becks slid off the boot grinning. `Thank you,’ he said to the headless Daddy Rat and turned to Foster expectantly. `Well?’
Foster gave him a look and answered, `you covered me in blood.’
`I saved your life.’
`And?’
`And?’ Becks answered. `A thanks might be nice.’
`Oh yeah, cheers then,’ Foster said. `I’m a bloody mess, literally, and we’re going to see The Doc.’
`She’s an egghead.’
`A pretty egghead.’
`Still an egghead.’
Foster gave Becks a looked then asked, `and how many women do you meet in this job?’
`Point,’ Becks said, then he nodded at the dead policeman. `What you reckon we should do about them?’
`Dunno, resurrected ‘um?’
`Funny,’ Becks said. `We’re gonna have to torch your car.’
`I know,’ was all Foster said. `I know.’

The Guild was not best pleased with their prize being decapitated and burnt to cinders by Foster and Becks, though they didn’t seem to care about the policemen. Except that it was their fault that the prize got free. Once they had been seen by The Doc, they were both cleared to have a couple of days off so there wounds could heal. Foster made the point that he didn’t want a holiday he wanted another car.
`They ain’t gonna give you another car,’ Becks said, as they entered the physciatic hospital . `Yet.’
`Watcha mean,’ Foster asked. `Yet?’
`Well they want us to catch another rat first,’ Becks answered. `Another Daddy.’
`You what?’
Becks shrugged. `There the Guild, mate.’
`Bollocks,’ Foster said. `There bastards.’
Becks gave him a look. `How come you’re here anyway? There been a change?’
`Nah, she‘s still the same.’
`Then why?’
`Because Becks, I almost died yesterday,’ Foster said, stopping him. `And my sister is stuck in this place, so if I do die, I need to know she will be taken care of.’
`She will, mate,’ Becks said. `The guild will . . .’
`No,’ Foster said, cutting Becks off. `The guild will do a half-arsed job of it, because I will be dead and then what need will they have for Chardonnay?’
Becks looked at him. `I‘d make sure they took care of her.’

`Not to be mean, Becks,’ Foster said. `But if I die so will you.’

`Me?’ Foster just nodded. `But I might not.’
`Not a chance I‘m willing to take, Char ain‘t even spoke since that fuckin‘ rat attack. Why do you think I kill them?’

`Duty?’
`Revenge,’ Foster said, holding his arms out. `So when we gotta do this rat
then?’
`Tomorrow, nine am sharp.’

Twenty past nine and they got to the house, it was a normal three up, three down, and Foster didn’t like it.
`I don’t like it.’
`Watcha mean, you don’t like it?’ Becks asked, pulling out the rifle that held the horse tranquilliser. `We got this and three others, don’t worry about it.’
`Last time you said don’t worry about it we almost died and two people did.’
`Yeah, alright,’ Becks said, as they walked up to the house. `Let’s just get it done.’
The door was unlocked, but that didn’t surprised either of them, they walked in, Foster had a nail gun and his usual crossbow, they were fatal weapons, he wasn’t about to die and he told Becks as much. The Daddy Rat was waiting for them in the lounge-room and he seemed strangely unafraid.
`I brought him, Master,’ a voice said, from behind him, Foster turned to look and saw Becks stood there with a blank look on his face. `He is yours.’
`Bollocks!’
`Enough,’ the gravely voice of the rat came. `It’s time to die Rat Catcher, time to pay for all my kind you’ve killed.’
`Wanna be . . .’ was as far as Foster got as he raised the crossbow, he got clubbed
across the back with Becks rifle. `Ah, bastard.’
Becks didn’t have time to say anything because Foster came up fast upper-cutting him with the nail-gun. Becks head snapped back, his eyes glazed over and he hit the floor.
Foster turned to shoot the Rat but instead joined Becks on the floor thanks to a big
fur covered paw. He came up first grabbing a dinning-room chair and breaking it over The Daddy Rat’s chest.
`Ah!’
The creature smiled at Foster’s effort, so Foster kicked him in the reproductive organ.
Like humans this was a major weak spot, it gave him enough time to grabbed a chair leg and wrapped it around the Daddy Rat’s genetically modified skull. Rat’s had left human’s behind in genetics making themselves stronger and more resistant to pain, which made Foster’s job harder. Knocking a Daddy Rat out took a lot of effort, but knowing that they had somehow managed to chip Becks, another Rat breakthrough, made him willing to put in the effort and then some.
Becks must have come round some time that he was trying to mush the creature’s head, but Foster didn’t realise this until he got hit again with the rifle, he fell away grabbing out for his crossbow, he couldn’t shoot Becks he knew that much, the chip made him unable to resist the compulsions the rats had installed. Foster decided what he was going to do in the spilt second he had, instead of shooting Becks he whacked him around the legs with the crossbow. Becks landed and Foster pulled an arrow out of the bow and stabbed it into Becks shoulder, this was where the biggest wound had been after there last fight with a Daddy Rat, The chip was there he saw it as Becks screamed and pulled at his hair. Foster punched him as many times as it took too knock him out again, then dug the chip out of his shoulder.
The first clue that Foster had that the creature had recovered was when he bounced off the wall on the far side of the room. The Daddy Rat pulled him up and got him into a big bear hug and tried to squeeze the life out of The Rat Catcher. He heard and felt one of his ribs snap, he could taste blood deep in his throat, another rib snapped and he screamed. Everything was being covered with black spots as the oxygen left his lungs, he knew it was over, he was about to die . . .

Foster, the rat catcher awoke not in heaven, but in the same house he was meant to die in. The Daddy Rat had gone yet he still lived, Foster shook his head trying to clear it because that just didn't make sense. There was no way that Daddy would have let him live.
He looked at Becks, but he was still out, what had happened? And how the hell had they managed to chip Becks?
Foster didn't have the answer to these questions, but as he ever so slowly and painfully got to his feet decided he didn't really need to, Becks would know who chipped him and The Rat Catcher always had rope in the car.

The Doc looked at Foster in fear, she knew how close him and Becks were and how
much he hated anybody who hurt his mates.
`Stella had no choice, Foster,’ came a voice from behind. `You know that.’
`Why?’ Foster asked, the head of the Guild.
`To see if you were one of the chosen,’ The Head answered.
`One of the chosen?’ Foster asked. `The one chosen for what?’
`The chosen ones,’ Becks answered from the floor. `Your chipped two.’
`No, I’m not,’ Foster said. `I wasn’t under his control.’
`That’s impossible,’ The Doc said. `I put in the strongest chip, and it was close to the brain, I put it in his new tooth.’
Foster looked at them all and saw them all looking back at him with a sense of awe, even The Head.
`It’s true,’ The Head said. `He’s one of the chosen, once we’ve ran the test on the chip, we’re be sure.’
`Hold on,’ Foster said, finally dropping the nail-gun from The Doc’s chest. `Your
telling me it was a test.’
`Yes,’ The Head said. `If you are immune to any rat control, you are one of the chosen few, the few born with the brain anomaly that makes you immune. We think your sister has the same anomaly that may have been why she was attacked.’
Foster tried to take this in and found he couldn’t, but at last one last thing added up. `Back up team?’ he asked, finally. `That's what happen to the rat?’
`Of course, a test it was, but you both needed back up,’ The Head said, with a slight smile. `I wouldn't of let you two die, we need you.’

`Yay,’ Foster said. `We going for a pint Becks?’
`Yep,’ Becks answered. `Once you untie me of course.’
`The Doc will do that,’ Foster said, not taking his eyes away from The Head. `She
owes us, so she’s buying.’
The Doc smiled and gave a little salute. `Yes, sir.’
The Head watched his three disciples walk away together knowing they were united
by loneliness and fear, he felt a rare moment of regret for three so young to be caught up in something so old, but it didn’t last long, it never did.