Hunting Party
#2 of Lycans and Zombies
Scout teams are probably the most important part of our survival. We go out into the surrounding forests and kill off any zombies we find. I think my team, Sector Six, is probably the best at it. Instead of guns, our weapon of choice is bow and arrow. Crossbows to be more exact. They put just enough force behind the arrow and the ammo is reuseable. Of course, we have to clean it off thoroughly to avoid infecting the camp, but it's a lot easier to do than finding ammo for guns. They're also quiet. A gun will draw a mindless mob from miles around, whereas an arrow flies silently through the air. Perfect for a sneak attack.
It was our turn to go out, and as we left the gates of the compound, we heard howling echoing off from the distance. We didn't really think much of it, since most animals made it out of the whole ordeal alive. There were sometimes zombie animals, but they didn't seem to have the same mindset as the human ones, they usually just laid down and died.
"What do you make of that howling, Lily?" Marco said. He was once a police officer in Florida. How he found his way all the way to Colorado, I will never know. He seems to have adopted me as his daughter, he told me once that I remind him of her with my strong will. She was one of the first to die.
"It's probably nothing, Marco. Just keep moving and watch my back." We could hear a small group of zombies in the trees. It sounded like they were frustrated with something, and as we moved towards them, we could see them surrounding something laying on the ground. Whatever it was growled and lunged at the group, managing to fell three of them. Alan raised his crossbow, but I put my hand on his arm. Another zombie went to bite the brute, and when it sunk its teeth into the furred hide, it screamed and backed away. Its mouth was nothing but bloody froth, and then it fell, dead as it should be.
"What the hell is that?" Marco said, inching towards it. The rest of our group follow closely behind him.
"Be careful, Marco, it could be dangerous," Willa said, the only other female in our group. She was a Marine, back when there was still military branches. We all held up our bows, loaded and ready to shoot. My own bow was of my own creation. It looked sort of like the one that could be seen in Van Helsing, only it wasn't nearly as nice as that one. It was more crudely made, but it worked just the same. I could go through six bolts in under a minute if I had the automatic option selected.
We approached the mass of fur, killing off the only remaining and confused-looking zombie. My heart ached, since this one was once a child, probably around six years of age. I heard the beast panting heavily and whining and I looked at it. It was much bigger than any animal I recognized, and when my gaze travelled to its face, I saw it was a wolf-like creature with eyes that seemed way too intelligent. It was frightening.
"Damn, it's a wolf!" Marco shouted, raising his bow to take aim at its face. The beast curled its lip and gurgled a snarl. It attempted to stand- and on two feet!- but fell back to the pine needle-littered earth. I had never seen such a beast, and for some reason, it fascinated me.
"No! Leave it be, it's not doing anything to us. Lower your weapon, Marco," I said in a stern tone. He hesitated for a second and lowered his aim when I stepped out in his line of fire. I motioned for everyone to stay back and continued forward.
"Please be careful, Lily," Willa said. I waved my hand dismissively in her direction and knelt beside the beast.
"You're hurt?" I asked it, feeling foolish. This was an animal, of course it couldn't understand me- but it did! I saw it nod its massive head ever so slightly before it slumped over in pain. A large hand-like paw was clutching at its side where blood seemed to just gush from a wound. I reached out to touch it and it shied away from my touch. I pulled my hand back quickly, not wanting to hurt it more.
"Are you male or female? Oh listen to me, you can't answer in the state you're in. Uh, let's see. Twitch your ears twice for male or blink your eyes three times for female." It twitched its ears twice.
"So male, then?" He nodded again. He whined quietly and clenched his eyes closed.
"Lily, you might as well just put it out of its misery. Its been shot, and by a high caliber round by the looks of it," Alan said.
"No! Leave him alone," I said as I reached out to him again. "Listen, I'm a doctor, I can help you. You've been shot, and from what I see, the bullet's still in you. Will you let me help you?" He nodded and lifted his hand. The wound was a large one, probably made by a 30.06 round.
"Okay, guy, this is going to hurt quite a bit," I said, digging my medical equipment from several pockets in my cargo pants. I slipped on a pair of gloves- after the bites he'd received, you never knew if he was infected- and forceps. I could actually see a fragment of the bullet close to the surface, so I took it out. Surprisingly, the entire bullet came out with it. I put it aside and pulled out sterile gauze,but before I could apply it, the wound had disappeared.
"What are you?" He struggled to his feet, using a close-by tree for support. At his full, two-footed height, he was easily seven feet tall. His fur was a dark iron grey. His face, hands, feet and tail tip were all black though, and when he was laying, I could've sworn I saw a black dorsal stripe. His legs were shaped oddly, definitely not human. There was an extra joint below the knees, and I struggled to think of the word that some use for it. Digigrade, I think it was. He stumbled forward and fell, changing back into human along the way. A mostly naked human.
"Marco!" I shouted, dropping to my knees beside him to help him. Marco appeared beside me, pulling his army-style jacket off and placing it across the man's shoulders.
"Don't think I'll ever get used the the Change," he muttered. His voice was a deep baritone that sent shivers up my spine, and when he looked at me, his eyes were the most unusual color. They were almost a light gold color, probably hinting at the beast hiding inside him.
"Judging by your accent, son, I assume you're not from around here," Marco said, helping me to get him standing again.
"And you would be correct in your assumption. I come from the homeland of the Lycan clan Varen, from England."
"How the hell did you wind up over here?" I asked him.
"I was a traveller before the epidemic hit. Lucky for me, our kind is immune. Unlucky for me, the bites still hurt like blazes. And so do gun wounds, for which I am eternally grateful to you for removing it. Pure silver and laced with wolfsbane, whoever fired that shot knew exactly how to kill me."
"You shouldn't talk so much, you're still weak. Come on, lets get back to the compound," Marco said. We made our way back to the group, and one look from both me and Marco silenced their questions- momentarily. I could tell that Willa was going to give me an earful when we got back. But I didn't mind, all I was worried about right now was getting the man to safety.
Note: This is in no way meant to be professionally written, this is just 3 am ramblings. There aren't any edits done to this, this is just for shits and giggles. So no crits :U