In the walls of one house lived mice, these mice were broken up into different groups based on what wall or floor they were on. They had leaders based on who could collect the most cheese on the holiday “Chasing Cheese Day” which would happen once a year. Some walls were bigger than others and would have more mice; the biggest issue that these mice would face was on the outside of the walls, the cat. The cat’s one goal was to keep the walls clear of mice for he wanted the walls all to himself. The mice leader with the biggest wall was named Max and his land was called Hollow. The three leading lands in the walls there are called: Concrete, Brick, and Hollow. Concrete was run by Martin and Brick was run by Mirra. The three leading lands agreed long ago to support one another if they were ever attacked by Oliver, the cat with their group named C.A.T.O. (Corporation, Against, The, Oliver). 

They would trade with each other and make deals; their main way of getting resources was by going into the outside. Max and the other leaders had recently taken notice that the cat had taken a liking to one of the lands, Dry Wall. Dry Wall was one of the smaller lands that had more recently been trying to join C.A.T.O. but hadn’t yet due to the leaders still deciding if they should let them join. Dry Wall wouldn’t have much to offer C.A.T.O. so they were hesitant. Then one day it happened, Oliver had attacked the Dry Wall and was after the mice. The mice ran to neighboring walls in hopes for help and a place to stay, they were in war. Some Dry Wall mice stayed behind to fight the cat in hopes he would stop but he was relentless, he was beyond reasoning. The leader of the Dry Wall begged for help from C.A.T.O. but they refused because Dry Wall was not in the group so therefore they didn’t have to help. C.A.T.O. did stop trade with the outside to show the people of their lands that they weren’t going to support what Oliver was doing. Some mice blamed all of the outside while others only blamed the cat. 

The price of food went up due to the stopping of trade with the outside world which enraged many of the mice living outside of Dry Wall, many no longer cared for all the mice in the Dry Wall who were being forced out of their homes and to find refuge. With the end of the trade the cat also faced problems, the owners of the outside were upset with Oliver for not getting more mice so the cat was forced to attack the Dry Wall more. Soon enough those who lived in Dry Wall where either in a different wall, fighting, or dead; then there was silence, the rumblings had stopped, the squeaks of fear were gone, and so was Dry Wall. The wall had officially been destroyed a month before “Cheese Chasing Day”. A week, a week went by where there was only silence, the markets had closed to honor the dead and to ensure safety, workers stopped working to help in any and all ways they could. A week! A week after the wall fell was all it took for Oliver to return for more blood. 

Wall after wall the cat tore and injured and killed, the mice begged C.A.T.O. to do something but they refused. C.A.T.O. decided that after Wood Wall fell they would go into hiding in the one place they knew: the attic. In the attic was enough food to last two mice a whole winter. Wall after wall the beast tore and injured and killed “Please do something! If we don’t have leaders in battle we will all die!” screamed the mice to their leaders but they wouldn’t listen. The leaders said it was “fake news” and that the creature wasn’t attacking. Wall after wall the animal tore and injured and killed, then, Wood Wall fell. Max, Martin, and Mirra got up from their beds that had been filled with cheese rations to feed twenty mice for two days and went to the attic. All they could do was wait and listen to their citizens be killed mercilessly as they celebrated escaping the killer. They had waited weeks on weeks hoping that there would be confirmation that it was safe to return but nothing prevailed. 

As they waited they decided to search the attic for something to do, Max had noticed that there was something large that was stacked in the attic and decided to investigate. Under the attic came thumping sounds, one after the other getting closer to the attic. Max noticed it was something he had seen before, something one of the mice had made a long time ago but he couldn’t seem to remember the name of it. The thumping got louder as Max searched more, the other leaders had eaten almost all of the rations before winter had even begun. Max almost screamed when he realized what it was: Stairs. As he came to his conclusion a large hole opened up from the ground, Max ran to not fall to his death. Then there was silence, the stairs had opened downwards into the hole, only one thing climbed the stairs. The cat.