Snake in the Grass
(Gift for Road to Nowhere)

	It was a quiet and drizzly afternoon, the evening sky filled with clouds as Millie was walking in the narrow passageways through the abandoned bakery's walls. Along her slim form was a sack filled with the crumbs and scraps she could scavenge, a knitting needle slung over her back like a polearm and sewing needles by her sides like short swords. The dim sunlight coming from the small hole at the end of the tunnel was enough of a guide for her as she continued out to meet with her fellow surviving partner. A light huff came from the beige mouse as she squeezed through a hole into the outside world, the tattered denim rag dress she wore getting caught on a loose nail before getting yanked away.

	Millie crawled out to the gentle rain, her small form getting hit by a rogue droplet of water. The beige mouse's squeak got the attention of her fellow scavenger and survivor, Sabrina, who turned and walked over to cover the mouse's head with a large oak leaf as an umbrella. The black rat was wearing stretched cotton over her larger form, wood shavings forming sort of basic armor along her chest and arms. Sabrina easily towered over Millie, reaching out to help up the little beige mouse who was almost half her size. The black rat had to shift her makeshift polearm to the side, the gleaming blade getting doused in water.

	"How much did you get?" Sabrina asked before she saw the sack, the wooden armor chips smacking against each other as she eased the smaller rodent up. "Looks pretty full. Surprised this place didn't get drained dry already." She said, looking up to a smashed in window of the sleepy, ruined bakery.

	With a groan, the mouse yanked the sack out, struggling to keep it closed, sidestepping out from under the protection of the leaf-brella. "I think it's... a week's worth of rations at least? Maybe more!" Millie heaved the bag over her shoulder and looked towards her larger partner in the eyes with a smile. "Do you want to get back to camp now or have a snack before we go?" The beige rodent smiled wide, her blonde hair getting doused with a droplet of water and making her groan.

       Sabrina reached over and brushed the water out of her smaller ally's hair. "No, we should go on and get moving," the larger rat said bluntly, looking across the dew coated grass, "It's going to be getting dark soon. Well, dark AND overcast." She would reach down and take the sack of crumbs and scraps from Millie, carrying it in front of her to lighten the load of the small mouse.
       
       The pair would set out, going towards the camp they had set up within the roots of a somewhat distant oak tree, far enough away to take about an hour's worth of travel by the pair. Wading through the grass and the droplets of the rain shower, Millie and Sabrina pushed through slowly, unaware to their surroundings. Passing by the old rotten stump marked with an X of knitting needles, the two failed to notice the slithering near their waypoint. Neither Millie nor Sabrina had the awareness to detect a third figure slipping along their misty blades of grass, the stalking snake staring down the light furred mouse.
       
       Sybil was their stalker, an ebony scaled snake with an intimidatingly tall body creeping along the ground, coated in mud and dew. It was a natural camouflage for the natural predator of the mouse and rat, her body clothed in the remnants of an old Barbie toy with a ripped black tank top and denim short shorts, cut to fit her tail. Grey eyes stared down the two moving through the grass, the stalking snake being wary of Sabrina and her imposing form and weapon. Sybil knew she could easily grab and whisk the smaller Millie away, but the altercation of the bodyguard like rat threw a wrench into her plan.
       
       It was like that the three traveled towards the old oak; the rodents continued ahead without a hint of the stalking snake behind them and the creeping serpent slithering closer and closer in an army crawl. The scaled stalker kept her grey eyes on the pair, watching as they slipped into the roots of the tree and disappeared down a hatch, watching and listening patiently to see if a larger bounty was within. The doorway to their hide out was too small for Sybil to slither in, leaving the snake eager and excited for an hour more. It would make too much noise to try to force herself in, and in that time her free meal tickets could run off through another exit or fight from their safety.
       
       The snake would bide her time, waiting and listening, planning her attack to come. She clearly had the advantage of both surprise and of the sunset sky slipping into the darkness of dusk. There was no need for Sybil to rush ahead and tear at the door like a barbarian, especially where the chance of either of them putting up a fight was low.
       
       Within the hidey-hole, there was an overwhelming spark of joy between the two as wooden armor was discarded off Sabrina's body, Millie groaning in exhaustion while tossing her surprisingly heavy needle weapons aside. 
       
       "I swear, there was so much stuff in there, Sabrina!" The mouse chirped eagerly, "We should go back before anyone else gets it. There was so much bread and even stuff to get us better geared up if we need to fight! There was a knife in there, but I know I couldn't get it out through the hole we found, let alone carry it." There was a thump as she set her weaponry onto the shelf where it belonged.
       
       Sabrina huffed and tossed the rewards into the pantry, sitting on an oversized thimble chair. "Are you sure we should just leave again today? Let someone try to get in and get our stuff? I don't think it's a good idea, Millie, it's just setting us up to get robbed. Let alone the night falling, we can't risk getting caught off guard like that in the dark."
       
       In her enthusiasm, the mouse pressed open the hatch just barely a centimeter. "Well, I'm going. We need to get more food, a lot more than just a single WEEK. What about two weeks? A month even? Are we just gonna let it stand aside?" Millie's spirits were rising as she talked, her infectious eagerness spreading to the now unarmored rat.
       
       There was silence in the small hideaway for a moment, until Sabrina groaned and stood, emptying out the sack into their rudimentary pantry. "Fine. Fine, fine. We're going back once and we're running back. If we don't leave as soon as we can, it could even be midnight out by the time we get back. IF we get back. And, Millie," Sabrina added, "If we're getting caught, I'm going to leave you to defend yourself. It's your plan, it's your head." She sated coldly.
       
       A small squeal of joy came from the small mouse as she grabbed the now empty sack, taking her knitting needle and setting it aside. "Then we should travel light. Lighter and faster!" It was a risky idea, one that came with Millie outright not caring of what Sabrina said, too energized for this high risk and reward plan. The rat disagreed and grabbed her polearm as they began to ready for the trip back.
       
       From outside the bark and dirt walls of the hidey-hole, Sybil could barely stop herself from snickering and giggling as the pair would be coming out, barely armed, to confront the snake! She would sneak to the side, listening and watching to see her prey move out of the hatch. It was Mille who came out first in her slim dress, Sabrina following with a second sack and her polearm like razor-blade-on-a-stick. 
       
       Sybil would bide her time once more, watching the rodents charge out in a light jog with their empty scavenging sacks flopping uselessly over their shoulders. Stalking in the wet grass, the ebony snake slipped down further upon seeing Sabrina turn to check behind her, narrowly avoiding the black rat's gaze. Millie led the charge towards the decrepit bakery with her eyes set on the two knitting needles on the rotted stump ahead, completely oblivious to the larger rat's creeping uneasiness. The cover of darkness was the snake's friend, although she wanted to find an opportunity to divide and conquer.
       
       It was oddly smooth sailing on the around ten-minute walk to the tree stump, the rodents slipping along with the snake slithering silently behind them. The attack of Sybil's muscular form came silently as Millie darted up the rotting wood in order to peer around, using her slim form to quickly scurry up the stump, outside of Sabrina's view. Crouching and leaping into the air, the ebony snake opened her mouth and lunged forward, grappling the black rat and injecting the paralyzing poison into her neck with a blood thirsty bite. Barely the sound of a gasp would reach Millie's ear as her companion went still and stiff, Sybil's hands tightly grasping around the black rat's neck and squeezing the life out of her.
       
       "Okay!" Millie said, huffing as she began to turn back with a slow stroll. "It all looks clear! We can sprint there, if you..." Her green eyes focusing on the snake's mud and cloth covered back, looking down towards the limp rat. Hardly a word could come out of her mouth, staring down at Sabrina's panicked eyes and Sybil's devilish glare of brutal satisfaction. 
       
       The grey eyes of the murderous serpent scaled up the bark of the stump before locking onto the beige mouse's terrified glance. "Oh, hello there, miss mouse~" she said temporarily moving one hand from the strangled rat's neck to brush the shiny black hair out of her own face, giving a sultry wink towards Millie. "Can you wait just a moment, dear? I'll get to you as soon as I finish with your friend here~"
       
       Paralyzed with fear, the small mouse could only stand and watch as the powerful snake wrapped her hands around Sabrina's jawline, watching in horror as Sybil took murderous action. The dark scaled hands quickly twisted and snapped the rat's neck, making her entire body tense up under the much larger snake before going limp, her head almost backwards as her life faded into the dusk. Millie could only gasp with an agape maw while watching the murder take place before her eyes, her fellow survivor no longer surviving the unforgiving snake. There were little twitches that came from the limp rat as she lay on the ground dead, her body slowly growing still as those dark eyes rolled in the back of her head.
       
       It was when the grey eyes of the killer snake focused in on the mouse that the rodent moved, scurrying away towards the knitting needles in the stump. Sybil threw herself onto the stump, jumping and only managing to get her well-endowed chest on the edge of the bark, laughing softly as she watched Mille struggle with the needle. It took a moment, but the absolutely towering serpent was behind the mouse, staring down on her like she was simply a toy for the taking or a meal for devouring.
       
       "Now, now, you can stop that, you silly little mouse~" Sybil clearly took enjoyment from watching the mouse struggle to pull the knitting needle out. "If you just lay down on your back, I'll make it painless. You're struggling for no good reason, you stupid little thing." The serpent snickered while approaching, watching as Millie finally yanked the heavy spear like weapon out of the tree's rotted stump, turning the rusted metal towards Sybil. "Maybe if you hush up, we could work something out, squeaker~" The snake continued to tease.
       
       It took heavy breathing for the small underdog to say anything, holding the all too heavy weapon aimed towards the snake's stomach, shivering in terror. "N-no! You killed Sabrina! I'm not going to let you get away with this!" Mille screamed, and attempted to jab with the weapon took big for her, barely poking and almost tickling her attacker's belly. "What do you even want?! Do you just want to KILL US for the fun of it?!" There was rage in her tiny voice, eyes starting to tear up while glaring with all her might at the towering serpent. What was she to do other than run for her life? Deep down within her heart, Millie knew that there was no way she could defeat Sybil by just attacking and fighting, especially as the spear like knitting needle was yanked from her tiny paws.
       
       There was a laugh that came from the large snake as she twisted the weapon in her hands, preventing Millie the chance to grab the other one wedged in wood. "Tsk, tsk, tsk...~ You're a feisty little short stack, aren't you, mousey? Almost too cute to kill." Sybil said in a sultry voice, giving the mouse a shove with the blunt end of the metal rod, pinning her to the wood. "How about we work out a deal, hmm? You surrender and become my pet for the rest of your life, or I kill you here and now~ There's no point to running, dear, I can easily chase you down before you even got back to your hideout. I can see those little green eyes and those tiny cogs turning behind them, mousey mouse~" The jet-black serpent leaned in, applying more pressure between Millie's weighty boobs, almost crushing her ribcage.
       
       "O-okay, okay, don't hurt me!" Mille gave in with barely a fight, screaming as she felt her ribs starting to bow inward from the pressure. Fear for her life was fully setting in as she panted, grabbing the knitting needle and attempting to push it off of her, using all of her force just to match the pressure Sybil was applying. Small and outclassed, the rodent whined and whimpered loudly for the dominating snake. "We can talk! P-please just let me go!" Millie's cries for mercy continued as the snake searched in her bag, keeping pressure down on the mouse.
       
       Sybil would sigh and draw out a coil of thin, copper wire, looking down towards her prey with a mischievous smirk. "Well, either you're faking it or actually that fucking easy to grab, mouse butt. Tell me your name, PET." She speaks viciously, wedging the weapon under her arm and leaning in, her grey eyes staring deep into the wide green eyes of her prey. "You can call me mistress Sybil, squeaker. Going to be a good mouse and obey me, dear?" The serpent hissed while uncoiling the wire, reaching for Millie's exposed, beige neck with a threatening intent. 
       
       Finally! The mouse saw an opening, a way to escape. As the copper wire was being brought closer and closer to her, Millie feigned submission while looking away from the new soon-to-be collar. As soon as Sybil's black scaled hand got close to her, the small mouse used her legs to pull the knitting needle out of her grasp and bit the hand closest to her! It was a fluid motion, one that got the snake screaming and hissing in pain as Millie started to flee, not even taking the time to climb down the stump and throwing herself off the edge into the dew coated grass. That's when she turned to mock for only a moment, "It's Millie! Just so you know who'll take you dow- WOAH!" She was cut off by Sybil's retaliation.
       
       The snake, bleeding lightly from the gnawing bite that Millie delt to her hand, groaned and twisted the spear like knitting needle in her other, nondominant hand. As the mouse boasted, Sybil launched the pointed, metal stick as a projectile, attempting to hit her and narrowly missing the tiny target that flared rage in those grey eyes. "Why you little cunt!" She hissed with a venomous fire, pulling the second knitting needle out of the rotten wood like it was nothing, splattering wood chunks at her feet. "Well, I guess you chose the hard and painful way, my little Millie!" Sybil called out to her prey before charging into the grass, using her long and muscular legs to speed towards the rodent.
       
       Millie continued to flee, her tiny legs carrying her along the wet grass and mud, darting around in a zig-zag formation to try to avoid getting hit in case another projectile was being thrown from the dark. The sound of the predatory Sybil charging her from behind were filling her ears, the fear of looking back and getting a glance of the murderous serpent catching up to her. As the second knitting needle projectile darted past and landed in the ground, Millie screamed for her life! Upon realizing she was in the clear to beeline it away, Millie stopped her jagged pathing and sprinted away from the snake, quickly eating up her energy as she dashed for freedom.
       
       Terrified, panting breathes came from the mouse as she continued to run and run, not able to stop for a moment without risking her life. At one point in her sprint back to the tree root base, Millie tripped and stumbled on a pebble, letting out a sharp scream while barely catching herself from falling face first in the mud! With the fatal slip, the mouse's tail was snagged up by Sybil as she approached, continuing to run with the mouse in her vice like grip. The beige mouse was dragged by her sensitive tail through the wet grass and across the stones and mud, staining her denim dress and tearing holes in it while not having a chance to even retaliate. 
       
       With Millie being dragged through the grass at top speed, the predator hunting the tiny mouse prey continued to run and steal the rodent away, continuing towards the little mousey base. Sybil was intentionally toying with the mouse now, trying to punish her for disobeying and biting her hand hard enough to get it bleeding, dragging her painfully by the tail through the ground. The serpent continued out top speed, suddenly stopping and using the inertia built up to toss Millie straight into the exposed roots of the large tree that the mouse called her home! Upon impact, it shook the small mouse directly to her core, more likely than not breaking the beige mouse's muzzle as she bled onto the grainy wood of her home, dazed and stunned from the strike.
       
       It was then that the serpent threw her lightly clothed body onto the mouse, the cold-blooded scales of her exposed midriff against the rodent's back, a muscular ebony arm wrapping around the beige neck. A lustful hiss escaped from Sybil as she drew back, holding Millie only by her neck and watching the mouse squirm and struggle for freedom. No such results come as the restraining grapple slowly sucked the life out of Millie, her cheeks turning blue with wide green eyes looking towards the canopy in hope of a miracle.
       
       "Oh, you love being a little squirmy bitch, don't you? Honestly, Millie, you're more like a worm than a mouse at this point, wiggling like one of those dirty earth crawlers~ I mean, look at you!" Sybil began to gloat, flexing her arm and choking the beige mouse harder, snickering as the pitiful squeak sounded from the rodent. "All covered in dirt and little cuts of your rags, meanwhile I'm dressed in REAL clothes. I tried to be nice to you, you know. Shame you didn't take my offer to be a pet before it was too late, you silly mouse."
       
       All the serpentine whispers into the large ears teased Millie as she choked, the weak noises coming from her open maw. The teasingly gentle touch of Sybil brushing the blonde hair out of the mouse's face made the squirming little rodent feel so degraded, like even in killing her this snake didn't need to try too hard! It made her mad, the mouse kicking her beige paws back and forth to attempt to free herself, grasping at the muscular arm around her neck to try to pry for just a few breathes more air.
       
       A disappointed groan came from Sybil as she squeezed just a little tighter, holding the mouse gently away from her body with her other hand along her plump ass. "Honestly, I could end you right now. Keep you and your friend as trophies as I get my pets to scurry in your little hole, get all your food, and give it to me." Carrying Millie towards the door, the grip was loosened as one hand restrained her hands, the newly freed hand gripping the mouse by the hair. "You were so close, weren't you? But you had to trip. But you had to refuse my GENEROUS offer. Can't you see what you could've had?"
       
       "F-fucking let me go you snake!" Millie screamed before panting heavily, thrashing around as much as she could in her new snake-hand bindings. "You killed my friend! How could I in my right mind join you?" Using as much of her energy as possible, the mouse reared one of her paws back and slammed it back into Sybil's cunt, barely impacting it with her shorter stature compared to the snake putting her at a disadvantage.
       
       That little tickle of a kick was Sybil's cue, her hand releasing Millie's hair and grasping at her neck. With a low, drawn out sigh, the snake squeezed tighter and tighter, tweaking it to the side and revealing the sweet spot to bite for her. The ivory like fangs pierced into the nape of the mouse's neck, a strained scream coming as the paralyzing venom spread into her system, making her grow limp. Millie would slump in her murder's arms, her tongue falling to the back of her small mouth as all she could do is breathe and stare slack jawed at Sybil.
       
       With her grasp releasing, the towering snake took the time to pop her own back while glaring down with frozen grey eyes towards the useless mouse. "I think I've just about had enough of you, Millie. You got maybe... ten seconds? Enjoy it, you helpless worm of a mouse~" Sybil's words hissed out with a toxic tone as potent as her own venom. Her maw was twisted into a wide smile of mischief as she glared down at the mouse, slowly lowering her long ebony body to sit cross legged before the mouse.
       
       Fear and panic were rising in Millie's eyes as she darted them around, looking in desperation for a way of freedom as those dark hands began to drag her limp body into the predator's lap. Sybil turned the panicking prey over gently to look into those green eyes, sitting her up like a toy while gleefully looking in the victim's fearful face. Dark scaled hands slowly embraced her cheeks, setting the final thread in Millie's mind that she would have her neck snapped and barely feel anything as she died.
       
       The reassurance of a quick death didn't sate the mouse's desire to live! It didn't matter much, what mercy Sybil shown to her, especially as those hands positioned themselves to get the best grip. Millie's mind was alight, trying to find something that she could do, succumbing to the helplessness in her final moments. Then it came, rushing like a tsunami of mental pain for an instant.
       
       SNAP! Millie's neck was turned around, going far enough to destroy the cartilage of her neck and snapping the spinal cord. It was a moment of quiet after the snap, the floppy mouse being held gently and laying half on Sybil's lap. The serpent slowly stood with the mouse in her hands, turning her around to look at the wide eyes, crossed in the moment of death to leave Millie in an almost pleasurable expression. Millie's corpse would twitch and shudder for a moment, the uncontrollable spasms of death driving the mouse's body to struggle for life before eventually flopping uselessly. The green eyes stayed nice and wide as the snake set her aside.
       
       "Heh, well, hope you had a nice death. Stay there for me, okay? Gotta have my pets see you as an example of what'll happen when they disobey. Good mouse~" Sybil teased the corpse, bending down to twist the head to face the normal way instead of over her shoulder, giving a soft pat to the corpse. Then, she simply walked off, only to gather the rat and toss her against the mouse before returning to her home with a new mission for her little pets.