Hi hi, rodents ^.^
Has passed a lot since the last time I posted a new part of the epidemic plot, and its getting very interesting ;)
Remember the last part? The epidemic was being discussed at the Elders Council, and they came up with a plan to deal with the infection and find a cure out of the sewer rats.
But what the Council does not know, is that a couple of mice are plotting behind the scenes a new plan...

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Christopher enters the hospital, an urgent look on his face. "Sarah?" he calls,
looking around for the mouse.

Sarah was sat on a corner of the hospital, quietly checking the results of the
lasts exams on the patients infected by the bacteria when Chris's call startles
her, even more when she sees the look on his face. "Wha? Chris? What's
going on?"

Tod's a bit off from the hospital, out of earshot of Christopher, and clear of
quarantine zone and such. First glance would make one believe he's sick as
well, but the truth is less obvious. He's exhausted, his motions a bit awry, his
eyes bloodshot. He didn't get any sleep last night, at all. Nightmares.

Christopher smiles at Sarah when he finds her, looking perhaps a little
relieved. "I think I might have some good news," he says. "I talked to Tod,
told him about our plans, 'cause I was worried how they'd turn out. Anyway,
he's made a suggestion that I think might work better..."

Sarah nods "Good news? That's great, we could use some of them for once."
she says, frowning a bit "Really? What did he suggest?"

Tod hrrms a bit as he catches sight of Christopher disappearing into the
hospital. Judging by the lab tech's behavior when he left Tod's place last
night, he can only imagine what Christopher's up to now. (Better make sure
he doesn't get me into any trouble) Tod thinks to himself, altering his drifting
course toward the hospital. That, and he needs to sit down too.

Christopher tries to compose his thoughts. "Well, the rats, you know, I was
thinking that there's really no way this hostage situation would work. The
rats wouldn't care if we just died, I think. But Tod says that there's mice in the
sewers too..."

Sarah looks confused "Mice? You mean feral mice? Living in the sewers?
Um... ok but what's his plan then? What these mice have to do with the
epidemic?"

Tod stops outside the door, back against the wall as he listens in. "Yep, I'm
in trouble," he mutters under his breath. A few passersby notice his unusual
behavior, he simply glances it off and turns back to listening, able to see the
entire lab in the reflections off the glass windows in cabinet doors.

Christopher nods to Sarah. "Well, think about it. If they're in the sewers too,
they must've been exposed to the same bacteria too. If they've survived,
perhaps we can figure out what their immunity is, maybe even use their
antibodies directly. We wouldn't be able to do that with the rats."

Sarah lowers the glance a bit, thinking over this sudden twist of the events
"Yes, I know what you mean but how we can find them? I mean we know a lot
about the rats's whereabouts because the need of keeping them on sight to
not let them come close to the colony but... I don't think we have enough
reports about these sewer mice."

"The mice are rather easy to find," The voice comes from the gray-furred
figure leaning against the door post. "You just hafta know where to look, or
know someone who knows where to look," Tod takes a moment to clean the
nails of his forepaws on the milky fur on his chest.

Christopher blinks at the voice, looking over to Tod and smiling. "Heh, Tod.
Good to see you. Maybe you can help me with this; you seemed to have a
better idea than I do on how it'd work out."

Sarah turns to Tod with a querying glance, turning to Chris and to Tod again
"Okay, what you both are up to? You heard the Elders, Chris... the council
already have a plan and I don't think they would change their minds so easily
no. Without mention that I will not going through that again..."

Tod sighs, remembering Patricia's wrath. "Somehow, i get the feeling that
the council may be a little more inclined to look at an idea where the chances
of survival are better than 'nill'. Just a thought, though." He doesn't ask for
an invitation before sitting down on the first thing he finds, which happens
to be a counter top. "I mean, we can always hand a couple people over to the
rats and /hope/ they keep their word, but i have to remind you that for the
rats, losing a couple of their own will most likely only mean a couple /less/
mouths to feed."

Christopher nods to Tod. "I hate to say it, Sarah, but there just isn't any
reason for the rats to help us. If they leave us alone, we run the risk of this
epidemic claiming lives. If they kill our hostages, we invite a war, and with
this epidemic, our numbers are already weakened to begin with."

Sarah frowns when she hears Tod and Chris's remark about the rats's
behavior and was about to say something but the words stop on her mouth,
not the time to start an argue like those she always has with her mother. "Ok
yes, I know that it's a coin flip but... trying to find mice in the sewers is not
my idea of a more safely plan. Besides how this could be done? I mean you
can't just go there and ask for directions, many of our mice have died there..."

Tod shakes his head, Sarah's struck a nerve, even if she doesn't know it.
"Alright, but it was only a suggestion. I mean, if /you/ want to trust the rats,
go right on ahead." he stands and starts towards the door, but not really
having an intention to leave. "but remember, these aren't the same rats that
live in Thorn Valley. They're animals trying to survive. We're competition,
that's all that really matters. If they have an immunity to this disease and we
don't, well..."

Christopher nods in agreement with Tod. "Sarah, I'm not saying this way
isn't dangerous, but... do we really want to trust the rats with the health of the
colony? There's so much damage we've done already, it would take far more
time than we have to regain their trust."

Sarah frowns, they obviously have a point but she's not convinced. "Ok
wait, how do you plan to convince the Council about this? To do something
like this you would have to send an armored team into the sewers, not only to
look for that mice, if you ever manage to find them, if not to defend yourself
from the rats which like you said would try to attack us. I'm not saying the
other plan was perfect but... I don't know I just, I'm not a soldier nor a
tactician or something. I don't think I'm the right mouse to discuss this
with..."

Tod stops at the door, turning to look back as he (again) leans on the
doorpost. "You don't need a battalion, just somebody who knows the
territory. And besides, Mice aren't all that hard to find. Hell, i passed a few
on the way in here." Tod stops and thinks, or acts like it anyway, "And they
seemed to be ranting about some sick relatives of theirs, how some were
getting sick down in the sewers and others weren't" (It's a lie, well, partially,
anyway, but you'd have to be a world class poker player to catch it)

Christopher nods to Sarah, placing a paw on hers. "I know how you feel,
Sarah... that's why I wanted to talk to Tod. The council may know something
about governing, but they don't /really/ know what it's like out there. I don't
know of anyone more qualified than Tod."

Sarah looks at both mice with a concerned glance "Wait wait a second, are
you saying that you want to go there without the Council's approval? And
without guards or anything? Have you lost your mind?" She looks very
altered, obviously cause of the fatigue and the lack of sleep. Chris's paw
seems to calm her down a bit tho.

Tod chuckles, "Wouldn't be the first time," and gives a half eye roll at that
thought. "You have to remember, Sarah, i don't exactly have a /huge/ amount
of love for the council, and the feeling's mutual, last time i checked," Tod
leaves the statement at that. Whatever the case, Sarah /is/ the daughter of a
counselor.

Christopher shakes his head at Sarah, smiling. "Nono, I'm not saying that.
We'd want to have guards at least... but as far as deciding what to do, I don't
think the council can make that decision.

Sarah sighs and tries to arrange her ideas, not an easy task for her at this
moment. "Ok yes I understand but!" she notices a mouse turning and
side-looking at them, and lowers the tone trying to not catch the attention "I
understand, I know you are confident on your tracking skills Tod but that
doesn't guarantee that the rats will not find you, and one more thing how
you'll identify the infected mice? How will you take the samples? I mean
you're not.."

"I'm certain you or Christopher can identify the symptoms," Tod starts
before Sarah finishes. "It's been years since i was a medic for the guard, and
even that doesn't qualify me. but that's not the point. We're just trying to
find an idea that has a couple fewer question marks for lives. Handing
hostages over to the rats, creative though it may be, is /really/ not a good
idea.

Christopher nods a little to Tod. "I think we'd be coming along, Sarah.
Maybe some other guards too, but a big group would attract attention, I'd
think."

Sarah turns to Christopher frowning "Wait I... I can't disobey my mother like
that. I mean so many things could go wrong with this and..." She pauses and
takes a moment to think, seeing the beds full of mice suffering from the fever.
Li trusts her, he trusted his life to her and she promised to not let him down,
she promised to take him to see the stars. Sarah lowers the gaze and asks
"What're you going to do Chris? Are you going to disobey the Council's
orders and follow Tod's plan?"

Tod scoffs, "It's hardly a plan," and adds (just a hodgepodge of ideas
thrown together with intent and purpose) in thought. "I still hold some
bearing with the guard, even though Jolina's gone," he winces at that
statement, hardly able to bear to say it, "We won't go out there unprotected,
that's for sure. The rest is up to you guys." he shifts a bit, to make himself
comfortable again, and tries to think about what he's thinking about doing.
Yep, it's crazy...

Christopher looks at Sarah seriously. "If necessary, I will. I think that we
could probably present the plan to them and they may change their minds
and approve this one. Patricia may miss the opportunity to start a war, but
surely there are enough cooler heads there?"

Sarah closes her eyes for a second "You're so determined Chris..." she opens
her eyes and looks at him "I will too. If I can do anything to help stop the
epidemic before someone dies, I will do it with no regrets. My mother has her
way to do things and if not for her we would both have died long time ago
but this time... I know she only wants the best for me and the colony but this
time I think she's wrong. I just hope she understands..."

Tod gives a long sigh, "Well, I can't make up your guys' minds for ya, that's
your job." he turns to leave, "I got a couple of my own to take care of right
now, if you don't mind. I'll be at home if you need me," He takes one look
around the hospital, then heads off up the hallway. Again, he lied. The kids
won't be home from his mother's for another few hours. he's just hoping to
get some sleep before then.

Christopher looks over to Sarah, placing a paw on her shoulder. "Sarah...
you don't have to go... I don't want to see anything happen to you either. But
if it's your choice, I accept that." He nods to Tod. "Thanks, Tod. You've been
a great help."

Sarah looks at Tod leaving and sighs, she feels like if the flow of the events
were pulling her and there's no return. She takes Christopher's paw and
stands, looking at him to the eyes for a moment. "Yes I want to do this, I'm
sure about it. I can't just stay here wondering what will happen, I want to be
part of this and take the responsibility for once, without relying on my mother
to be there and save me like she always do." And after saying that she hugs
Christopher. She doesn't really know why, maybe just an spontaneous act
because the fatigue. "I don't want anything to happen to you either Chris,
you owe me a lunch remember?"

Christopher nods a little to Sarah; as much as he'd wish otherwise, he knows
better than to stand in her way. He blinks in surprise as he's hugged, hugging
her back. "Heh, yeah... maybe sometime we'll actually be able to do that."

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"Dream! What you dare to dream.
Go! To where you want to go.
Be! What you want to be.
Live!" R. Bach