and i think of rats again and how sometimes , to pass the interminable hours , teacup and i would plot our campaign against the vermin , stratagems and tactics , waves of attack , each more ridiculous than the last , until she dissolved into hysterical laughter , and i gave her the same speech i gave zombie on the firing range , the same lesson that now comes home to me , the fear that binds killer to prey and the bullet connecting both as if by a silver cord .