The Monsters We Hunt

"Thank goodness you're here!" a middle-aged woman cried.

Nikon stepped out of the van, ignoring the hysterical woman. His partner, Bayden, addressed the lady, "you're the one with the lizard-rat infestation, right?"

The woman nodded, looking around anxiously, "more people are coming right? Those things, those monsters are huge!"

Bayden shook his head.

The woman began panicking again.

Nikon rolled his eyes and went to the back of the van to gather their equipment.

"Lizard-rats, hmm," Nikon mumbled, as he rummaged around for a block of poison and several giant mousetraps.

Bayden joined him a few minutes later, " the Lab wants one alive, a specimen recently died."

Nikon nodded and grabbed a cage, "let's go."

"Please wait outside," Bayden told the woman.

Nikon pushed the door open.

Dozens of scaly heads turned, but promptly dismissed the humans as a possible threat.

"Knives or crossbow?" Bayden asked.

"Knives."

The next half hour passed in a blur of metal and fur.

Once the lizard-rats were dead or in hiding, Nikon and Bayden began setting the traps.

Nikon grabbed a chunk of poison, taking it to the lady's basement. He scattered pieces of it around the dark room.

Claws scurried across the wooden floor. A high-pitched squeaking filled the room.

Nikon pulled out his flashlight, slowly scanning the room. He froze when he saw it, the largest lizard-rat he had ever seen. It was at least the length of his arm, and almost as tall as his knee.

Nikon grabbed his walkie-talkie, whispering, "bring the cage. I just found our specimen."

"Right," Bayden's response crackled loudly.

The lizard-rat hissed angrily. It's furry ears flattened against it's skull, and it's pink tail swished slowly back and forth.

Nikon locked eyes with the creature. It froze, staring back with glowing red eyes.

Bayden's footsteps thudded down the stairs.

"Took you long enough," Nikon huffed, not looking away from the lizard-rat.

"You didn't tell me you were doing that weird staring thing," Bayden protested.

"Just hurry up," Nikon frowned.

"Right, right," Bayden sighed, "you break eye contact and the monster goes berserk."

Bayden set the cage down a few feet in front of the monster. It didn't move a muscle.

"Faster," Nikon urged, " I really need to blink."

Bayden ignored his comment. He readied a pair of thick, metal tongs, "you're sure it won't attack?"

"I'm sure."

Bayden gently slipped the tongs around the lizard-rat's sides. He took a deep breath before lifting it into the air. He took the few steps to the cage, "this is it. Ready?"

"Yep," came Nikon's short response.

Bayden quickly lowered the lizard-rat and threw it into the cage.

Nikon slammed the door shut as the lizard-rat began screaming and hissing in rage.

A horn honked outside.

"Sounds like the clean up crew's here," Bayden smiled.

"Our work here is done, let's go," Nikon said, picking up the cage. The lizard-rat thumped around, still hissing.