Only in the recent decade was there a need for any sort of regulation on predator rate of consumption of prey. It wasn’t as if predators had a reason to hold back and it was easy for them to over indulge. Prey species lived in constant fear that they would get snatched up on the street, and it typically was the case. The predator’s over-zealous hunger and inability to control themselves caused a mass of problems. The largest of which was the scarceness of prey species.

A dwindling number of prey started to become a dwindling number of predators. Their bodies had adapted to large amounts of meat and to absorbing the nutrients from living meals. An attempt was made to create an artificial meat to sustain them, but the project never left the ground. It wasn’t easy trying to tell predators that they couldn’t eat prey anymore. Riots desecrated the streets and predators had become outraged.

Eventually the powers that be came up with a compromise that even the prey representatives agreed with at the time, a new method of regulating the number of prey eligible for predators. This new method became known of as The List.

The List was, as the name implies, a list of prey that are ‘on the menu’ and that predators can snap up and make a meal out of at will. Every day the list updated with a number of prey chosen at random all over the country. In the early days the names were printed out in regional newspapers along with photos of the potential meals, but now in the modern era companies had made millions making apps that made The List accessible to everyone.

The app updated at midnight every night to show which prey within a hundred miles had been added. It also added several other conveniences that made every day easier for the modern hunter. Predators could lay claims on prey they were within a certain range of, they could set notifications for certain names if they wanted to know when a person who made their mouth water was for the taking.

But it didn’t only cater to predators. There were also updates that appealed to the prey using the app; besides using it to keep track of their own statuses it also allowed those who were willing to put their own name up on the list.

The List was the key in the re-population of the country and since then had been used to keep up with controlling prey species numbers. Bunnies and mice who reproduced in litters and frequently were almost always destined for the list, other species such as lambs, foxes, cats and similar had a decent chance that their name would never appear on the list. It was this possibility that made prey so accepting of such a process.

Rather than all of them being up for grab at any moment most of them had a chance for a full and happy life, the rest slowly came to accept the idea as they grew up that eventually their time would come. This didn’t mean they were complacent though, some would try to run, some would try to hide. But it hardly ever really mattered. Eventually if their name ended up on the list then they would be lucky to last to the end of the day.

11:58 p.m., 11:59 p.m., 12:00 a.m.

“Bzzz bzz. Bzzz bzz. Bzzz bzz.”

The alarm rang out in the silent bed room repeatedly until Heather finally rolled over to face her alarm clock so she could slap a paw down on top of it. The sound stopped for a moment, long enough for the bear to roll back over and pull the blanket back over herself to try and steal a couple more minutes of sleep before getting up from school.

“Bzzz bzz. Bzzz bzz. Bzzz bzz.”

It continued to go off and no matter how hard she tried to block the sound with her pillow. Eventually, with a bit of effort, she managed to push herself up to a sitting and she leaned against the headboard. The bear looked out to the window expecting to see the rising suns warm rays shining in through her curtains, but the room was dark and here was still a little bit of the nights chill creeping in. She looked back over to the side table her alarm clock was sitting on. There were still hours before her alarm was supposed to go off.

She picked it up and fiddled with the settings for a bit to make sure she didn’t set the alarm wrong or if the time was off. Then the sound went off again “Bzzz bzz.”

Finally, she noticed her phone on the charger where she had left it last night, it was vibrating and the face down screen was glowing brightly. Heather put the clock back in its spot and picked it up, closing her eyes as the bright light assaulted her still tired eyes. She dimmed it a little bit before she could stand to look at it for more than a few moments. Up at the top of the screen was a small red bubble with the number one in it. A notification.

She was cursing at her phone. “You woke me up for a damn notification.” She dragged her finger down the top of the screen, after all she was awake now and may as well see what was so important.

‘One New Notification; The List’

Suddenly sleep was the furthest thing from her mind. She swung her legs over the edge so she could lean over it and make sure she wasn’t just imagining all of this. The List only sent out notifications for one thing and she only had them set up for one person. Of course, it had to be now, out of the four years in high school together her name had to show up days before graduation. It almost seemed like some sort of cosmic joke, after all most of the prey enrolled never made it that far any way.

Just yesterday they had spent hours talking to each other about colleges they were going off to, jobs they’d get to afford an apartment together. Now none of that even mattered all the schooling, the relationship, graduation… it didn’t matter. Tomorrow Brie’s name was up on The List and it would only be a matter of time before somebody snatched her up as their prey.

Heather tried to lay back down, but sleep eluded her for the rest of the night and her heart was starting to grow heavy and her stomach was already starting to growl.

Brie was already awake by the time her morning alarm went off, sitting in her bed staring up at the ceiling while she waited for it. Mice were always early risers after all, and she wasn’t any different. She tossed her blankets off her and climbed out of bed raising her arms up over her head and stretching the last of the sleepiness out of her system as she went to the bathroom to start her morning routine.

She turned on the shower and let the water run for a little while to warm up while she brushed her teeth in the mirror. Whoever built this place hadn’t done it with mice in mind, despite being a full-grown adult she still had to use a stool to see herself below her neckline.

She rinsed and spit a couple of times before stripping down naked and stepping into the shower, Brie closed her eyes and let the warm water run over her body and start soaking down into her fur. It was such a comfort, and she loved the feeling of the heat all around her. Steam was fogging up the mirror when she was just starting to run shampoo trough her fur, fingers trailing through her fur until she scrubbed herself clean.

Water off, she grabbed a towel to start getting the bulk of the water off her before taking a hair dryer to herself. It left her a mess but nothing a couple minutes of brushing couldn’t fix. Eventually the mouse was back in her room digging through her closet for the days outfit and ended up settling on a pair of shorts and a cute crop. Brie took a couple of minutes to stare at herself in the mirror letting a little bit of her vanity show.

Down stairs her mother had been nice enough to leave her a small plate of breakfast before going off to work. She quickly grabbed a couple of bites from it before heading out, keys in hands. She was almost to her car when her neighbor called out to her from his side of the fence.

Mr. Ludden was a horse, a large stallion who had been lucky enough to apply for predator status and receive it in his youth… and he loved to flaunt it. Even now he was sporting a stretched-out stomach that he couldn’t even manage to stuff under his shirt. Whoever the occupant was they weren’t struggling, either exhausted once he got a hold of them, or maybe they just accepted what was happening. Either way he was pressing it up against the chain length fence, squishing them against his stomachs walls.

“Brie, how are you holding up. You look like you’re in good spirits?”

“Yeah, I’ve only got a couple more days left of classes, I’m still waiting to hear back from my college, but the applications office said I’m practically already accepted.” She was beaming with pride and the equine couldn’t help but chuckle. She watched him reach down and give his stomach a bit of slap coaxing a little bit of squirming protest from whoever was packed inside. She could see their hands pressing against and stretching out his gut, probably just wanting a little bit of peace in their final moments.

“No shit, it sounds like you’ve got everything lined up for you...” Brie caught a bit of falter in his voice, the way he trailed off and he was staring past her. “Hey, Mr. Ludden? Are you okay?” He snapped out of it and her voice brought his attention back to her. “Oh, yeah I’m feeling fine...it was nice seeing you before you went off. You should hurry to class now...”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be late. I’ll see you later.” He just nodded and waved her off as the mouse climbed in her car and pulled out of the driveway.

Things seemed different on campus today, people were just watching her as she walked the halls to her first class. Predators were licking their lips as she passed, nothing new but there seemed to be more hungry glances than usual. Brie’s friends, all the prey ones at least, turned their heads when she passed by and when she went up to try and ask them what was going on, they would run off. Alexis, a sweet lamb even started crying before ducking into the bathroom.

The mouse couldn’t figure it out. She hadn’t seen any of them acting like this since Yarie, a dear friend of theirs, made the… list.

Brie’s heart skipped a beat and anyone watching could see the worry in her eyes, she practically dropped her bag as she fell to her knees and started digging through her back packs front pocket for her phone. It came to life in her hand and she was scrolling until she came to the list, her finger hovered over it for a moment. She flinched as a lion in a football jacket walked by eyeing her up. She brought the app up and started scrolling until.

Brietta Hathorn

She slumped against the lockers as she felt tears welling up in her eyes, she wiped them just so she could look again to make sure she didn’t read it wrong. The mouse had made it so far, her name was eligible when she turned sixteen and most mice normally only lasted a couple of months after that. Brie had made it all the way to the end of high school without her name showing up, she spent nights studying and struggling though exams for it all to mean nothing now.

She was full on sobbing now burying her face into her knees, it wasn’t an uncommon sight, this was typically when someone would snatch prey up. She sat there just waiting for it, for a jock or teacher to grab her by the scruff and scarf her down and that be it. But nothing happened, no one grabbed her, she didn’t feel anyone grabbing or teasingly licking her. The bell for class rung and soon she was left all alone in the halls. Her phone buzzed and she looked down to see a text message from Heather.

Heather

Brie, you can’t be skipping today… I’m waiting for you in class.

Heather knew she hadn’t been snatched up, surly she knew she made the list, after all the bear checked it almost religiously every morning. That’s when something occurred to Brie, she clicked on her name on the app.

Brietta Hawthorn

Current Status: Claimed by Heather Tudor

Brie started wiping her eyes and taking a few staggering breaths as she started to calm herself down.

“Of course, Heather always said she wouldn’t ever let something happen to me. She always protected me from bullies but this… this is beyond all of that.” Brie knew what type of sacrifice the bear was making for her, after all she wouldn’t be able to hunt with her claimed. She almost teared up again just at the thought that someone would do that for her.

She picked herself up and started following the hallway until she made it to her class. Everyone looked up at her from their worksheets and the teacher simply gestured her to take a seat without handing her any work, of course.

Heather was sitting by herself with Brie’s empty desk pulled up next to hers. The mouse set her bag down beside the desk and the first thing she did was wrap her arms around the bear. Heather pulled her into a strong embrace and even nuzzled up against her. “I’m so sorry Brie… I really thought you would have made it to the end of the semester at least before your name went up.”

“It’s okay, you have no idea how grateful I am that you put the claim on me. I thought one of the jocks was gonna scarf me down in the middle of the hall.”

“Brie, it’s no problem. I had you on my notifications since freshman year, it woke me up and I staked my claim. Figured if I didn’t then I probably wouldn’t get to see you again and I promise to make this as gentle with you as I can.”

“What?”

“I said I’ll try to be gentle with you as I can… but no matter what getting eaten isn’t supposed to be a pleasant process.”

“Heather that’s not funny, I’m not in the mood for jokes right now.”

The bear stared at her for a couple of moments, she looked very serious, they both did. Then Heather felt her stomach grumble loudly and Brie’s ears perked, and she realized the bear wasn’t kidding.

“You… you can’t be serious. We’ve been through so much and you’re just gonna eat me?!”

“Well yeah, you’re up on the list and I’ve been waiting for that since we met. Honestly, I was starting to think you were gonna be one of the lucky ones and never get up there, but as soon as your name hit the list hun… you switch from friend to food.”

Brie stumbled for a moment, this wasn’t Heather. Heather was kind, they laughed together, they planned a future together. Her heart felt like it was breaking, she took a couple of steps back away before backing into someone’s desk. The bear was quicker then she looked and was up on her feet in a moment and grabbed a hold of her friend by the scruff and with little effort lifted her up off the ground. Brie started to struggle, swinging from Heather’s grasp trying to get herself free. She was shouting, calling for help but the bear simply reached up and practically smothered her, holding her muzzle shut.

“Miss Barkley, would you mind if Brie and I are excused for a couple of minutes… girl talk.”

The teacher simply nodded and excused them. Heather carried the mouse out of the room and into the girl’s bathroom before sitting on the edge of the sinks, the mouse was struggling and fighting the entire time trying to rip her fur out of the bears grasp. Heather simply dug her claws into her and finally let go of her muzzle.

Brie took a couple of panicked breaths now that her nose wasn’t covered. “How could you do this to me! I thought we were friends Heather!”

“Brie we were. I loved every minute that we spent together, every night you stayed over, all the times I confided in you. I mean it when I say that I’m going to cherish those moments.”

“Then why!”

“Because if it wasn’t me then it would have just been someone else! This way I’m at least getting a meal out of losing you.”

The bear was done listening to the mouse beg, she lifted her up and the next thing Brie knew was she had her face getting dominated by the bears maw. Saliva was starting to soak into her, and she could smell Heathers breath wafting up in her face. She didn’t take a lot of time tasting here before she did the first swallow. She pushed the mouse to try and get as much of her down as possible.

Brie felt her arms getting pinned against her side as she slid down into the bears throat, the tight wet walls undulating around her and yearning just to keep dragging her down. Another swallow and it did just that pulling her down until she was waist deep in the bear. Her muzzle pushed through a tubing into what only she would imagine was Heather’s stomach. Another swallow and she was starting to get pushed inside. Brie’s face pushed up against the walls as it started stretching to accommodate her. The mouse did her best to try and turn her head to try and keep as much of the acids off her as she could. “Any second, she’ll cough you back up.”

That thought still wasn’t enough to keep her from struggling. Outside her legs were kicking just outside of the bears muzzle. Heather looked up to stare at herself in the mirror for a moment before tilting her head skyward and with one last powerful swallow she sent the mouse all the way down. Her insides forced Brie to curl up inside of her stomach. She took a couple of minutes to admire herself in the mirror, the way the little mouse stretched her out, how tightly her stomach outlined her. Heather gave her gut a tiny slap.

“BWARRP. Holy shit Brie… I didn’t think you were gonna be so tasty. Mmm, you better not be fattening, though I really wouldn’t mind if you padded out my ass a little bit.” She chuckled a little before she left to go back to class.

Inside of Brie was curled up and no matter how much she tried to get a little bit of room in her friends stomach the walls just moved back to place, squeezing the mouse’s body from all sides. She was coated in Heathers saliva and it was already starting to become mixed with the digestive juices that started dripping from the walls and getting rubbed up against her skin. Oppressive was an understatement.

After a couple of minutes, it was already starting to tingle, tickling the skin under her fur all over. She was trying again to try and push against the walls, to try and get Heather to cough her up. It was a losing battle, she knew that too. Once prey is in your stomach, they’re food and that’s what the mouse was starting to realize she was. She tried to stifle it but all she wanted to do was cry again but she didn’t want Heather to have to hear that.

Heather didn’t take any notice besides the odd struggle every now and again. The bear went back, and everyone turned as the door opened and they watched as Heather gave her stomach a couple of hard slaps and let out another belch before taking her seat. She continued through her school day eventually making it to the final bell and heading home. After hours of soaking inside of her Brie’s was already starting to notice burning in some of her softer areas. Her clothing had broken down and the shreds fell below her into the slurry od juices. The mouse’s ears were practically gone to and her eyes were starting to sting. She tried to wipe them clean but only managed to make it worse. Patches of fur were starting to fall out leaving bare spots that reddened as acids soaked in.

Her breathing was starting to become painful too, each gasp pulling acidic air into her lungs. The tingle had become replaced with an aching as the slurry below her started absorbing into her. She was already starting to become mushy in a couple of places and it was getting harder for her to move her limbs.

As soon as Heather got home, she laid on her bed and back against a massive pile of cushions and she closed her eyes and started running her hands along her stomach, pushing down a bit on the mouse. “I’ve gotta say Brie, call me a little… sadistic but I thought you were gonna thrash more. Normally my prey at least tries to fight me through the first night, but you practically gave up right after I finished swallowing.”

Heather fell asleep with ease, when she rolled on her side the stomach sloshed and the juices coated Brie’s side. She had to fight and struggle with what little will she had left to get her head up above it, but it was getting harder throughout the night she laid back against one of the walls and let it take control. Heather’s stomach rolled and pushed her against the other side of Heather, squeezing her entire body as it had its way digesting her. There was no escape from it, the sound of the bears stomach was all around her; churning, gurgling, grinding up and sloshing her body as the mouse’s fur continued falling out until she was left bald with reddening skin. Brie closed her sightless eyes and tried to let her self drift.

She must have fallen asleep at some point because she woke when she felt the bears stomach tuning and tossing her around again as Heather got back to her feet. The walls squeezed around her as the bear leaned down and wrapped her arms around her gut and hugged it. “You still kicking in there mouse cakes?” Her voice was muffled but the mouse could still make out what she was saying through the fleshy walls.

“Y... Yeah...Heather, please… my furs all gone… it… it all hurts.” Brie’s voice was hoarse, her throat was burning it was hard for her to speak, every word strained her.

“Well, I said digestion wasn’t going to be pleasant. I can try and speed things up for you if you’d like.”

The bear waited for some sort of answer to come but the mouse remained silent.

“Alright… I don’t mind keeping you around for a few more days anyway.” Heather dressed casually with a shirt that she could wear over her gut. She went to school like she always and went through out her day. She had a couple of predators approached and ask about the mouse, she made a lot of stomach grumble over the years. Brie spent the day stewing inside of her, struggling when things started getting worse for her. The juices were softening her muscles and eating away at her body, chunks of her leg were digesting down into mush. For a couple of hours, she couldn’t stop her leg from twitching and kicking against Heathers stomach until the muscle was eaten away and her legs become dead weight. The mouse couldn’t blink, the eye lids were eaten away at some point and her breathing had become a raspy wheeze that sent her lungs into a burning pain.

Brie couldn’t stay conscious in the intense heat, but it was hard to tell how long she passed out. Her consciousness would fade, and then Heather would do something that woke her up again. Heather had made it back home and spent the rest of her day lounging on the couch with her belly hanging over the edge. She lifted her gut up and then let it drop watching it shake and slosh the mouse around inside of her. The violent motion brought out a new bought of squeals from her stomachs occupant and Brie started pushing her head against the bears stomach walls. “Pl…st… stop.”

Heather grinned a little and gave her gut another little squeeze, it was already starting to round out, the mouse’s shape starting to disappear. “Look at you, I really thought you were gonna at least hold out for a couple of days. You’re already practically mush, I bet if I pushed down on you head, I could put a stop to all of this for you…”

“No…ack!” The sudden call out sent the prey into a fit of coughing and she ended up swallowing a mouthful of Heathers acids and her own digested parts. The liquid burned all the way down, she felt her throat tighten up even more and now each breath had become a labor of its own.

“I wouldn’t do that to you, Brie. Besides, I doubt you’re gonna last through the night.”

Heather hefted her self back up to her feet and carried herself back into her bedroom, shutting the lights off and laying with her stomach resting on top of her. “Goodnight Brie. Goodbye”

She could hear the bears breathing slow as she drifted off to sleep and left the mouse alone. Her body was breaking down, Heathers stomach squeezed her lower half taking up the space her legs use to be. The mouse tried to lift her hand, but it wouldn’t move, she couldn’t tell if it was still there. The heat was getting worse, the walls around her were getting tighter crushing the hot air out of her lungs. She felt her body starting to creak and then there were snaps as her softened ribs snapped, they must had punctured something because Brie started coughing up blood. The walls were rocking back and forth as the switched squeezing, loosening, squeezing even tighter. Each breath was getting shallower and then Brie couldn’t pull any air in. She could feel her self about to pass out again, the walls squeezed and then all she could do was listen as more of her bones snapped. Heathers stomach sloshing and squashing around her. Heathers breathing, in… and out… and in…and out. Rhythmically, over and over again as if taunting the mouse who couldn’t even struggle for a breath. Then the bears heartbeat, ringing in what was left of Brie’s ears. Bump… bump bump. Bump… bump bump…bump…bump... bump.

Then nothing, the mouse’s body went completely limp and at the stomach’s mercy. Churning, squeezing, melting her down into a slurry. By the time Heather woke up there was mostly mush sloshing around inside of her. She spent a while lying there and prodding at herself, feeling it squish under each touch. She would still feel a couple of solid parts, maybe a couple of bones that survived her stomachs assault. Eventually she got up and looked her self in the mirror, the outline of the mouse was long gone and now she just had a round balloon of a stomach hanging off her. She lifted it up a couple of times and watched it bonce and jiggle with each gentle slap of her paw.

Heather gently ran her hand over it and imagined how much Brie would add to her hips, her stomach, maybe even a little bit to her bust. “I waited for four years for this… Its gonna be a shame to flush you all away Brie… but like me eating you it’s inevitable. Hopefully you’ll stick around on me for a while.”