The Dump Map; Rat Strategy

I wanted a map so I could better visualize how Orestes Herpetulian gets down to combat with the rats, aka The Herd.  This all occurs in the former Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island.  The gray stripe through the center of the map is the West Shore Expressway.  Nowadays this region is being turned into a park three times the size of Central Park.  In Pilgrims Dream, this is the setting for an apocalyptic battle between man and rat.

The Herd is comprised of giant, mutated rats that have a spooky group intelligence.  They have a leader: an ancient & humongous albino rat called Grandaddy.  Orestes considers going native, commando-style, like Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now!, to do permanent battle w/The Herd.  No other tactics seem to work.  The bureaucracy of the Sanitation Department and the local government overrule any proposal that has a chance of success,  and instead the politicians & bureaucrats suggest absurdly ineffective alternatives that will provide financial windfalls to connected men and campaign donors.  Orestes is ready to go it alone, man against Herd, as have a few other brave soldiers who now wander the vast mounds--North, South, East, & West--in permanent guerilla combat with The Herd.

This is what leads Herps to the coffeeshop in Manhattan: one last trip into the normal world before he leaves it forever--except he meets the other pilgrims in the coffeeshop.

The rats were originally confined to the East Mound.  In The Herd's mythology, rats who die bravely go to the Isle of Meadow.  So, The Herd wants to also secure the Isle of Meadow in this life.  Thus they attempt to expand their territory strategically in preparation for a final invasion.