Okay, I haven't seen any submissions yet, so I guess I'll start the party. This is a short that follows Justin during the last day the rats are in the rosebush. I may add to it a little, later, but for right now I think I'll call it done. Here goes nothing...

It’s a strange thing, routine is. When you live your life by one, time doesn’t seem to matter. Each day melts into the next, everything the same. Every once in a while, things happen to disrupt that routine, and those are the things you remember. But mostly though, life is uneventful. At least, that is, until everything changes.

For the Captain of the guard of the Rats of NIMH, today started like any other day. Justin yawned himself awake in his quarters right at six thirty, which was considered ‘sleeping in’ by him. Slowly, the still groggy rat rubbed the sleep out off his eyes and slid his feet off the bed. Justin ran both his hands through his mess of head fur and the shook his head a few times before glancing around his room.

The apartment Justin currently called home in the rosebush was a simple affair, basically just one room with his bed on one side and a couch and table on the other. On the back wall sat a desk and a few filing cabinets and a dresser, but other than that, it was pretty much empty, save Justin’s personal belongings. In truth, it was all Justin really wanted. The simple apartment was everything he needed and nothing he didn’t, and actually bore a striking resemblance to the hole in the wall he used to live in, in his previous life. This place was just much cleaner, and far more livable.

Justin stood and stretched his thin frame. The captain of the guard was not the strongest rat in the community, everybody knew that Brutus was, but he was by far one of the nimblest and smartest. Justin had a charisma and charm that few could resist, save one certain particular rat Justin had no enormous caring for. Justin finished stretching and made his way to the dresser. Beneath his feet, he could feel the familiar grooves in the large rug covering the floor of his apartment. Justin opened drawers at random until he found the one containing the white tunics he wore with his uniform. He pulled the newest one off the top, then closed the drawer and turned to his closet, where he retrieved one of many dark blue vests he had hanging there. Justin slipped just the vest on for the moment, then grabbed his belt and the large, brass button he used for his tunic, before heading out to the showers down the hall.

The hallway outside Justin’s apartment was nearly deserted this time of day. Most of the guards were either on duty or at breakfast. The select few that populated the vicinity turned and smiled or waved as Justin closed the apartment door behind him. One rat in particular, though, seemed perplexed by Justin’s lack of attire.

“Morning, Thomas,” Justin said as he made for the shower room.

“Morning sir,” Thomas replied in his usual stoic, formal voice. Justin smiled, that boy really needs to loosen up, Justin thought.

“What’s the report?” Justin said as Thomas fell in beside him.

“Sir…um…” Thomas stuttered.

“What?”

“Well, sir, your clothes.”

“I’m not on duty yet.”

“Right, sir.” Justin really wished Tomas would stop calling him ‘sir’ all the time. “Guard reports no major disturbances last night…” Thomas trailed off. “You sure you don’t want me to wait until you get to your office? There’s nothing pressing here.”

“It’s fine, really. Who’s on front door now?”

“Brutus. He’s been up there since four.”

Justin stopped at the door to the lavatory. “Why so early?”

“Clarence got sick, flu or something. Brutus was already up, so he just opted to start the day early.”

“Well,” Justin said as he pulled the door open, “It’s no wonder we haven’t had any disturbances. No one, not even Jenner, would mess around with ol’ Brute. It’d be suicide.”

“Yes, sir, it would.”

“Anything else?” Justin held the door open as a few of other guards walked out, acknowledging their salutes as they passed.

“No, sir. Nothing.”

“Alright. Well, I’ll be in my office right after breakfast, then probably at the council meeting today. Make sure someone goes to check on Ages today, I don’t want him all alone out there with a broken leg.”

“Yessir,” Thomas said, snapping into a full, stiff salute.

Justin considered trying to give the young rat some advice on relaxing, but realized it wouldn’t do any good. He simply returned the salute and said, “Dismissed,” before heading into the lavatory. Justin shook his head, thinking, that boy is gonna drive himself mad someday.

Justin hung a right inside the lavatory and headed to the shower stalls. The air was thick with steam as Justin made for the first available stall. He could hear the trickle of water running from several of the other showers as he closed the stall door behind him. He worked his vest off and reached into the tile-lined shower and turned the hot water on full. As Justin waited for the water to warm up, he organized his clothes and grabbed a towel and bar of soap off the shelf above his head.

Justin was testing the water for temperature and just about to step in when there was a knock at the stall door. Justin turned, curious and slightly frustrated, and opened the stall door without bothering to dress. On the other side stood an astonished and slightly embarrassed female guard.

“Yes, Carla?” Justin said as he cursed himself internally for not putting his clothes on. Then again, who expected a female in the men’s showers?

Carla shook herself out of a daze and stood at attention. “Nicodemus said he’d like to see you as soon as possible,” she reported. “Said it’s important.”

Justin looked back at the running shower, then turned and faced Carla again, who was now starring blankly at her undressed Captain. It was no secret that gender roles in the Rats of NIMH colony were lax, to the point of it not being unusual to see the different sexes in the same shower rooms together, but Justin had always tried to keep the guards a bit more strict, since relationships between guard members often lead to problems. If Carla had violated that particular rule, it was only because she felt it important enough.

“Tell him I’ll be right down,” Justin sighed. “As soon as I’m done here, anyway.”

“Yessir,” Carla saluted.

Justin noticed a hint of attraction in her eyes as he returned the salute, he’d been getting that a lot lately, and not just from her. Without saying another word, Carla turned and made for the door, but not without garnering some strange glances from the few other rats in the room. A couple turned and looked at Justin, who simply shut the door and turned back to his shower. He tested the water again, then cranked the knob marked ‘H’ up a little more before stepping into the shower. The hot water felt good on his fur.

*****

Justin strolled through the vast tunnel corridors that the rats of NIMH called home. Still a little damp from his shower, and somewhat perplexed by Nicodemus’s request to see him first thing in the morning, Justin was walking alone and, for the most part, silent. For a moment, he didn’t realize that there was somebody else walking beside him, trying to get his attention. Finally, a very large hand lay on his shoulder and tugged at it. Justin, startled, turned to face what could only be described as the second biggest rat in the colony, the community engineer, Arthur.

“Hey Justin,” Arthur started.

“Don’t do that to me!” Justin remarked as he held a hand at his heart.

“Sorry, Captain, but you I need to talk to you. It’s about…” Arthur looked around, and then leaned forward and whispered as if telling a secret. “It’s about the Plan.”

Justin lifted his eyebrows, perplexed by the chief engineer’s show of secrecy.

“What’s the problem?” Justin inquired as he motioned Arthur toward a side cubby in the hallway.

“We’ve hit some snags in the excavation. There might be some delays, serious ones. I’m afraid that when Jenner finds out, he’ll take it to the council as another example of why we shouldn’t move. Lord knows he’s gotten more and more aggressive these last few months since Jonathan…” Arthur trailed off. Justin knew where that line of thought would take both of them.

“I know, I know.” Justin assured. “The best thing you can do, though, is present this in front of everybody. If you try and keep it secret, Jenner will use that against you as well. And that’ll probably do more damage.”

“You really think? I mean, the council may start taking these delays as a sign that Jenner’s right…”

Justin cut him off, “Hey, we’re still three months ahead of schedule, right?”

Arthur nodded.

“Well, unless you’re problems are going to take more than three months to fix, I don’t see any reason why the council would have a problem with a few delays. I know they seem like a bunch of bickering idiots at times, but they are still in charge around here. As long as you make a show like you’re working on it and explain the problem, I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Arthur nodded a sign of disagreeing approval. “I don’t know, Justin. I still think Jenner’s gonna use this against us, and he is gaining some support, you know.”

“I’m sure he will. Or, at least he’ll try anyway. But you have to remember, Jenner hasn’t been all that popular since he attacked Jonathan last year. He may be loud and cruel, but he’s not in charge. As for the council, well, I’d personally like to disband that entire organization. We really aren’t a big enough community to warrant one anyway.”

“That makes two of us.”

Justin nodded as he turned to continue toward Nicodemus’s chamber. “Just be honest with them, they’ll understand.”

“Thanks Justin,” Arthur said, heading off in the opposite direction.

Justin shook he head as he walked. Delays in construction were to be expected, but this came at a really bad time. Jenner had been openly attacking the plan at every council meeting ever since it was started. Lately, he had become more aggressive. Justin knew there were some backhanded tactics going on behind closed doors, but he couldn’t prove anything, not yet. Justin rounded a last corner and headed up a dim hallway to the fringes of the colony. He picked up his pace, Nicodemus was waiting, he knew.

*****

A red flash of light, followed by a brief, blinding glare, echoed down the hallway outside Nicodemus’s chamber. Justin covered his eyes to the light as he pushed the wooden door open and stepped inside. When the light subsided, and his eyes adjusted, Justin saw Nicodemus standing by this desk. The leader of the rats was placing a small, red object into an ancient looking chest. Justin knew what it was, but had only actually seen it on one other occasion, when Nicodemus had confided its existence in both him and Jonathan Brisby. Justin let Nicodemus finish before loudly clearing his throat to announce his arrival.

“You wanted to see me, Nicodemus?”

The elder rat turned and looked at Justin quietly. “Ah, yes. Come, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Justin closed the door behind him and approached Nicodemus, who was now making his way to the ‘throne’ in the middle of the room. Justin stood in quiet admiration of Nicodemus as the old rat situated himself in his seat. Nicodemus had been the father Justin never had since well before the internment at NIMH. Justin would do anything for the leader of the rats, even give his life if need be.

“I’ve been hearing some talk that my old friend Jenner is gathering support against the plan.” Nicodemus began. “I wanted to know if it was true.”

Justin cringed at Nicodemus’s words old friend Jenner. “He has gained a few seats on the council, but not enough to shoot it down. My guess is he’s probably planning another attack at the council meeting today. I seriously doubt he’ll ever get enough support to vote it down, though. Not this late in the stage.”

Nicodemus listened and nodded. “Hmm, I see. I want you to keep an eye on him as much as you can. Should something happen, he may move to take over power completely. Jenner’s lust for power has grown greatly in Jonathan’s absence.”

“I will, Nicodemus. I doubt it’ll come to that, though. Jenner’s so full of hot air I’m surprised he doesn’t float.”

Nicodemus chuckled at Justin’s remark. “Ah, my boy, you are right about that.” The old rat sighed and took on his serious tone again, “Is there anything else new since the last time we talked?”

“Not really,” Justin said. For a moment, he debated not telling Nicodemus about his conversation with Arthur. Justin thought the better of it. Nicodemus would find out eventually, might as well be now. “I ran into Arthur on the way over here, this morning.”

“Ah,” Nicodemus replied, “and how is the chief engineer this morning.”

“He’s concerned about the plan.”

Nicodemus scowled slightly, any bad news about the plan always upset the elder rat. “How so?”

“Apparently, the construction crews have run into some problems with the excavation. He didn’t go into details, but he seemed pretty concerned that Jenner might use this to attack the plan again.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“I told him to tell the truth, that it would do more damage if he tried to cover it up.”

“And right you are. ‘Tis best to get the truth out on the table before proceeding.” Nicodemus smiled, “You are a good rat, Justin, and you will make a great leader of this colony in the near future.”

“You aren’t thinking of retiring, are you Nicodemus?”

“Maybe so. I believe once the plan comes to fruition, I will step down. I feel I am too old to be running this colony anymore. I am naming you as my successor.”

Justin stood, astonished. “Surely there are others who can…”

“Yes,” Nicodemus cut him off, “but none of them hold your integrity as a leader. You’ve pulled us through some of our worst times when I was not able to do so. You hold the respect and admiration of almost everyone in this community, and you’ve proven time and time again that you can handle the tasks handed to you. No one else here, not even Jenner himself, can do that.”

For a moment, Justin considered arguing with Nicodemus, but he decided against it. He wasn’t absolutely sure that the old rat was right about him, but he could see that there would be no arguing the point. Nicodemus made up his mind.

“Have you discussed this with the council?” Justin inquired.

“No, not yet. No one else here knows aside from you, me and Ages.”

“I’m not so sure they’re going to take to that very well. They may try and disband the entire position once you retire.”

“I doubt they will.”

Justin thought for a second. “This is why you asked me here, this morning, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I wanted the chance to tell you in person.”

Justin was about to say something when there was a knock at the door. In stepped a young member of the guard, Troy if Justin remembered correctly. Justin noticed that he the dark rat was completely covered in a light dust.

“Yes, private.” Justin said.

“There’s been an incident in the grain storage,” the young rat stated

“An incident?” Justin said, wide eyed. He turned to Nicodemus, who was sitting quietly now. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this.”

“It’s your job, Justin,” Nicodemus said in a double meaning tone.

Justin followed the private out of Nicodemus’s chamber, pausing at the door to look back at the old leader. There was a spark in Nicodemus’s glowing eyes, something that seemed to say ‘I told you so’ to Justin. Justin shook himself free from the thought as he closed the door behind him and headed for grain storage.

*****

A few paces down the hall, Justin caught up with the young private. “What happened?”

“Apparently one of the silos gave way,” the rat responded. “Luckily it was only about a third full, or we’d have a real mess to clean up.”

“I see. Who’s down there now?”

“We called up almost everybody, save Brutus at the front door. Thomas’s in charge ‘til you get there.” Justin rolled his eyes slightly. Thomas was probably trying to call up the whole brigade right about now. Justin caught a hint of movement somewhere off to his left, and turned in time to see a flash of a cape disappear into the shadows somewhere off to his left. He didn’t have to guess who it was. Justin picked up his pace. So much for a routine day, and he hadn’t even made it to breakfast yet.

*****

The scene that greeted Justin at the grain storage was one of outright chaos around a complete mess of what had once been the largest of the colony’s five main grain silos. Troy had been right, though. They had been lucky it was only a third full. Any more and it probably would have buried the entire room.

Justin dodged workers as he made his way through the vast expanse of storage room, a space roughly the size of a small shed, and about half as tall. Bits of sheet metal and support grating littered the area, along with a huge pile of grain. A number of the adjoining storage shelves had toppled in the process as well, luckily, though, they were all empty at the time. As a matter of fact, other than the silos themselves, the entire room was pretty much empty, most of its contents had been shipped to Thorn Valley over the last few months. What was left was all they had anticipated they would need to finish out their time in the rosebush before making the move.

A loud creaking sound caught Justin’s ears, and he turned to see another one of the shelves, surrounded by several rats, slowly tilt to one side.

“Watch it, watch it, watch it!” someone shouted as the shelving unit came crashing down in the middle of the crowd.

“Careful, people!” Thomas shouted. “This is a disaster area!” The first lieutenant was standing on a pile of sacks of grain and shouting orders to everyone. Justin watched as the rat jumped off his ‘podium’ and rushed to help a group of workers trying to lift a piece of equipment off a trapped rat. Justin turned to Troy, “Has Arthur been informed, yet?”

“The Lieutenant sent Oliver to get him. He should be here any time.”

“Right. Well, go make sure they’re on their way.”

“Yessir,” the rat saluted before running out of the store room.

Justin took a moment to observe the scene at hand before reacting. It looked like the base blew out of the silo, sending most of its contents out in all directions around it. Several workers were digging through the pile, trying to see if anyone was trapped under it. A few rats had been caught by the falling shelf units, none of which looked too bad since most of the shelves were short and light enough to not be lethal. At least, Justin hoped they weren’t. Justin approached his first lieutenant, who called himself immediately to attention at the presence of his superior officer.

“Report,” Justin said as he approached

“Looks like the bottom gave out. Mostly cosmetic damage so far, but three of the workers are still missing. I’ve got anybody who’s available coming. I’m hoping the missing workers aren’t under all that, sir.” Thomas said, pointing to the huge pile.

“It’s unlikely, anyone caught in the path would probably have been swept out away from it. But keep looking anyway. Anything else?”

A figure just outside of the storage room caught Justin’s eye. Dressed in black and with an enormous cape draped over his shoulders, Jenner was standing, staring at the carnage with a hint of a smile on his face. Justin didn’t know for sure, but he figured that Jenner would try and use this to his advantage, somehow. Try to discredit the chief engineer or something. Justin watched silently as the dark rat turned and slinked away, still smiling

“Hey, I found ‘em!” a voice shouted from across the room. Justin sprinted to where a few rats were standing, trying to lift another shelf unit. Most of the other workers in the storage room converged on the unit as well. Justin could see the three rats under the shelf, all appeared to be breathing.

Some of the workers were rigging up boards as levers to lift the shelf, others had rigged up bits of rope to ceiling braces, and still others were using their backs to move it. Justin chose the third option, pitting his back hard against the top shelf and lifting with his legs. For a few moments the shelf didn’t move, then gradually, with much creaking and groaning, it lifted an inch or so, just high enough for the three rats to be pulled out from under before everyone lost their grip and the shelf came crashing back down. Justin jumped out of its way and made for the three fallen workers, who were now sitting up atop a pile of bags of flour.

One of the guards, Alexander the resident field medic, was looking over the three of them as Justin approached. “They gonna be alright, Alex?”

“Bumps and bruises mostly, a few major cuts, but nothing serious, luckly. I think everyone’s going to be just fine. No fatalities.”

“Good,” Justin sighed. That was one thing he didn’t want to have to deal with. Justin didn’t handle death very well. Justin dusted his tunic off with his hands and looked up in time to see Arthur arrive with the full force of the workshop crew. The chief engineer stood in shock for a moment at the sight of the disaster within.

“What a mess, eh?” Justin said sarcastically as the large rat approached.

“I told those maintenance crews to empty that thing a month ago. Now look what happened.”

“Yeah, things have a way of not getting done around here these days. Everyone’s more concerned about the plan.”

“Well, won’t do us any good if this whole place falls apart and kills us, now will it?”

Justin chuckled. “No it won’t, will it. Maybe that’s Jenner’s plan. Make us all stay, dead or alive.”

The large rat shot Justin a suspicious look. “That’s not real funny right now. You know that.”

“Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.”

Arthur turned to one of the equipment laden workers and said, “Hey, Ernie. When you get done getting those shelves up, I want you to go find every wheelbarrow or crate or anything you can find that’ll hold grain and bring it down here. Take a couple teams with you. We need to button this all up today.”

“Gotcha,” the rat replied as it carried on toward the shelf Justin just came from.

“Anyone get killed?” Arthur inquired.

“No, and nothing too serious either. I imagine there’s gonna be a few sore bodies tomorrow, but it looks like everyone’s okay. I doubt we’ll even have to call Ages in.”

“That’s good. Too dangerous to be calling him in anyway, what with a broken leg and all. At least, not without an escort.”

“Yeah. But you know him, he’d come anyway, escort or no.” Justin said as he thought about the previous nights events. The old mouse had almost become cat food when he tripped over the same crack in the floor that had caught Jonathan six months ago. Justin pushed that train of thought out of his mind and turned his attention back to the job at hand. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was barely eight thirty. This was going to be a long day.

*****

With a sigh, Justin kicked back in his office chair and rubbed his weary eyes. The day had calmed down a bit since this morning’s excitement, which was now mostly taken care of. It hadn’t taken Arthur long to find the cause of the blow out, it was obvious that the lower silo supports had been compromised from years of over work. The chief engineer was now hard at work preparing his disaster report to give to the council later today, since the incident would probably be the first item on their agenda.

There was one other thing on Justin’s mind right now. His conversation with Nicodemus this morning had left him wondering. Nicodemus, it seemed, had every confidence that Justin could lead this community, and Justin was in no position to question the elder rat’s judgment. Still, Justin couldn’t see himself in charge. That, and he really didn’t want to have to deal with the council on a daily basis. Justin shivered at that thought and turned himself back to the mountain of paperwork on his desk. He had a glimmer of hope that all this would disappear once they moved into the rosebush, though he seriously doubted it would. Of all the things intelligence had brought them, paperwork and politics were two that Justin could very well do without.

Justin glanced at the clock. Startled, he bounded out of his chair and ran for the door. The council meeting started almost ten minutes ago. As he bounded up the hall, cursing himself for not paying more attention to time, he was stopped by Carla, who was coming back the other direction.

“Sir!” the young rat shouted as Justin passed.

Justin turned. “Yes, sergeant?”

“Brutus reported a disturbance at the front door a minute ago. Apparently a wild mouse tried to sneak in.”

“He didn’t kill it, did he?” Justin inquired, worried. He seriously doubted Brutus would, but you never know.

“No, sir. He didn’t. He did say, though, that it seemed to be looking for us. I’m not quite sure why.”

Justin listened, perplexed. Looking for us? That didn’t make any sense. “Thank you, Carla,” Justin said as he started back down the hall.

“Oh, one more thing,” she said as he turned. Justin stopped and turned.

“Yes,” now he was getting annoyed.

“Thomas wanted me to tell you that Mr. Ages has been informed of the council meeting. I guess he’s already on his way.”

“Great,” Justin grumbled as he turned and sprinted down the hallway. This was exactly what he didn’t want to happen.

*****

Quietly, Justin stood near the entrance of the council chamber. He had no intention of going inside, not yet at least. The news of the disaster this morning had spread like wildfire through the community, and poor Arthur had been grilled for nearly half an hour as he tried to explain what happened.

Following that, the news of delays in the construction at Thorn Valley hadn’t gone over well at all. Justin pitied his friend. Jenner had done everything short of literally cutting Arthur’s head off during the ensuing argument. However, Arthur had stood his ground against Jenner, and actually managed to come out on top in Justin’s opinion.

Justin silently turned and made for the elevator. Mr. Ages was coming, and Justin wanted to be there to greet him, if for no other reason than to make sure the old mouse made it alive. As he walked, Justin glanced at the cleaned up mess in grain storage. Most of the toppled shelving had been righted, and the remnants of the destroyed silo were now sitting in a twisted pile atop what had once been its base. Justin picked up his pace as the echoes of Jenner’s fury from the council chamber touched Justin’s ears. Hot air, Justin reflected. Jenner is only full of hot air.

*****

At the rosebush elevator, Justin paced as he waited for Mr. Ages to arrive. The mouse’s injuries worried Justin. Or, rather, it was the fact that Ages was making the trek from his old threshing machine alone. Justin had wanted to accompany Mr. Ages, but his presence was needed here. Justin knew Ages well; the old mouse wouldn’t sit around and wait for someone to pick him up. Ages was probably already at the door, if not closer.

Justin stopped. In the distance he heard the echo of voices coming down the passageway. Justin perked up and strained to listen. There were two voices, one he recognized immediately. Justin could never mistake the grouchy old voice on Mr. Ages. Ages was saying something about swearing and secrecy, words that made little sense to Justin. Then there was the other voice, a soft, sweet female voice that Justin didn’t recognize. It seemed so familiar to him, but he just couldn’t put a finger on it. Where had he heard that before?

The tip, tip, tip of Ages’ crutch signaled their approach, and Justin ducked into the shadows between two nutcrackers the rats had placed at the entrance to the elevator shaft years ago. Thinking quickly, he grabbed one of the nutcracker’s top hats and stood stoically in line, making himself almost invisible.

As Ages and his companion passed, Justin opened his eyes and let his pupils follow the two of them. Once they were past him, Justin swept out and silently tip-toed up behind the old mouse, and grabbed Ages from behind, covering Ages’ eyes in the process.

“Reveal my name,” Justin whispered.

“Justin, you featherhead!” Ages shouted startled. “Get your hands off me!”

“Alright, alright. I didn’t mean any harm,” Justin said standing back. “The meeting’s already in progress. Who, may I ask?” Justin said in a suave voice as he leaned down over the female, a mouse.

“Yes, yes, she can be trusted.” Ages sighed. “This is no stranger. My dear, may I present Justin, the Captain of the Guard.” Justin straitened to his full height, proudly as Ages continued, “Justin, Mrs. Brisby.”

Justin stared, astonished. “Not...Mrs. Jonathan Brisby!”

“Yes, the same.” Mr. Ages sighed

Justin bowed grandly to Mrs. Brisby. “It is an honor and a privilege, milady.” ”If we could dispense with the formalities...?” Mr. Ages scoffed.

“How beautiful...” Mrs. Brisby said softly, staring Justin in the eyes.

“Ma'am?”

“Oh! Er...the lights!” Mrs. Brisby responded, as if trying to cover something up. “They're quite lovely.”

Justin let it pass as he tossed the hat aside. “Yes, they are. We've had electricity for four years now.”

“Five.” Mr. Ages interrupted.

“Jonathan often spoke of electricity.”

Justin stood and led Mrs. Brisby toward the elevator. “But you see, our shame is that we're stealing it, from Farmer Fitzgibbons.”

“Stealing?” Mrs. Brisby inquired.

“All of that is going to change.” Mr. Ages interjected.

“He means we're working on a Plan.” Justin explained.

“I mean, that we have a Plan. And this stealing will stop.” Mr. Ages said as he entered the elevator. Justin aided Mrs. Brisby inside before cutting the rope loose and jumping onto the swinging lantern. As he did, Justin gazed upon the young mouse that had been his best friend’s mate. There truly was something about her, that much was certain. Justin had heard so much about her from Jonathan, and yet somehow never actually thought he would meet her. This was definitely not an average day.

*****

Exhausted, both mentally and physically, Justin stared silently at the empty expanse that was his apartment. Or at least had been up until now. Outside the door, the sounds of footsteps and tools could be heard up and down the hallway. In the darkness, Justin tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to comprehend everything that had happened today. Just this morning, he had been trying to figure out why Nicodemus wanted to name him successor to leader of the rats. Now, with Nicodemus dead by Jenner’s hand, Justin now shouldered the responsibility of the entire community. Not to mention that NIMH was now bearing down on them. In probably less than an hour, Dr. Schultz would be knocking at their door once again.

Justin turned and opened the door to his apartment. Only a few rats remained behind now. All the rest were safely away from the rosebush, most of them hiding in the woods beyond the farm as they waited to start the trek to Thorn Valley.

“Hey,” Justin said, grabbing the attention of a passing rat.

“Yessir?” the rat replied. Troy, if Justin remembered correctly. The young guard seemed to be utterly exhausted and worried sick.

“Where’s Arthur?”

“He’s up by the front doors making sure everything’s ready. Why?”

“Nothing really. Carry on.” Justin turned and made for the front doors. He had lied to Troy, really. But this was a matter to be discussed between him and Arthur alone.

As he walked, Justin felt the weight of the amulet bouncing lightly against his chest. The impressive display given by it in the hands of Mrs. Brisby only a few hours ago was still fresh in his mind. Nobody, not even Justin himself, could have imagined it possessed that kind of power. And to think, it almost ended up in the hands of a murderer. Justin shivered thinking about Jenner. The dead rat had come close, very close, to controlling everything. Justin didn’t want to fathom what would have happened if Jenner had managed to take over power, or even get his blood stained hands on the stone.

And then Justin realized something. Nicodemus had known what was about to happen. That very morning, in their conversation, Nicodemus had told Justin to be wary of Jenner. Justin hadn’t listened, and now Nicodemus was dead, and he was now in charge of the rats. Justin shook his head as he now neared the rosebush entrance. It was too convenient to have been a coincidence.

As he approached, Justin spotted Arthur shoring up a few braces before turning to meet the new leader of the rats.

“Sir?” Arthur inquired softly.

“You got a minute?” Justin asked as he pulled the chief engineer aside.

“Y-Yes,”

Justin lead the Arthur aside and then turned to face the him with a somber face.

“Arthur, I’m going to lead the decoy team down here. When your finished, I want you and everyone else who’s not needed to join the others.”

“But Justin,” Arthur interjected, worried. “You’re in charge. You can’t…”

“I can, and I will,” Justin cut in. “I’m not going to order anybody to do this job just because I’m in charge now. This is how it’s going to be. No arguing.”

Arthur tried to protest, but decided against it. Justin watched with satisfaction as the enormous rat nodded in silence, obviously still against the idea.

“One more thing,” Justin said as he pulled the stone from his neck and handed it to Arthur. “Should anything happen to me, you’re in charge.”

“Justin, I can’t…” Arthur protested.

“I didn’t think I could either, but I did. You’re the next best rat here. If anything happens to me, I’m leaving the position to you, and that’s final. Clear?”

Again, Arthur only nodded. A muffled noise echoed up the tunnel behind them, the sound of a distant explosion. To avoid any suspicion, Justin had ordered that any access to their old community be permanently blocked off. They had even gone so far as to collapse parts of the community, should NIMH decide to try and dig it up. The demolition charges signified the end of the rosebush for the rats. Now all that was left was Thorn Valley.

A rush of air and dust swept up past Justin, ruffling his clothes and fur. There was no going back now. Another sound filled Justin’s ears as the wind subsided, the heavy, staccato report from a diesel engine somewhere outside the rosebush. Several of the other rats perked up at the noise, their faces stricken with worry. Justin didn’t have to guess what it was, but he looked anyway, peering up through an opening in the twisted shrub above. A large tanker truck with the letters N-I-M-H pulled into the drive, followed by a white van bearing similar markings. Silhouetted against the rising sun, the two vehicles looked like white dragons coming to bear down on the rats. They didn’t have much time now.

“Arthur,” Justin said as he dropped back down the opening and worked his clothes off, trying to make himself look as feral as possible.

“Yes?” the older rat said as he started toward the back escape tunnel.

“Remember, anything happens to me, you’re in charge.”

“Good luck, Justin. Don’t get yourself killed.” Arthur didn’t wait for a response as he followed the last of his team away from the rosebush. Finally undressed, Justin turned to the few remaining rats, all of them stripped down to their fur as he was. His heart was now racing as he looked back up through the entrance toward the two trucks, outside of which had congregated farmer Fitzgibbon and a few men in white lab coats, one of which Justin recognized as Dr. Schultz. Justin took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. No mistakes could be made now, not with this much on the line.

“Okay, men,” Justin said turning back toward the group behind him. “Lets get to the other escape tunnel before they start pumping. Remember, we only get one shot at this. Once you’re clear of the tunnel, make a few runs like you’re panicked, then get out of sight as fast as possible. We all meet up back near the mill. If anybody’s left behind, we’ll go back for them once NIMH has left. If you catch a breath of that gas, you’re as good as dead, so be careful. We’ve already lost too many people today.”

All the rats nodded a silent agreement as Justin started for the secondary escape tunnel, which exited near a briar patch next to the house. Justin had never been so scared in his life, but now wasn’t the time to show it. All the rats were depending on him to pull them through, not just the ones running this suicide mission with him. Justin stopped and allowed all of them to pass, silently taking account of them so he would know if anyone was missing later. Outside the rosebush, the clatter of equipment could be heard, along with the sound of a tractor spooling up. Once the last rat had passed, Justin ducked into the tunnel. It wouldn’t be long now…

…To Be Continued.