Chapter 32: The beast within
Tom and the strong, young woman were still struggling to fight off the many remaining werewolves.
The loss of Tony had made an impact on Tom, he hoped they would get out of this alive. Something seemed rather odd about the beasts they were fighting. After the things Louie had told him about werewolves, he had expected them to be a lot stronger than this. ‘It could have been worse’ He thought to himself.
“Look, they’re going for the mansion.†The girl pointed her blaster in the direction of the fortification. The thirty remaining wolves headed straight for the mansion and jumped over the barricade. Two of the refugees stood by the door and it was closed before the werewolves could enter. A lonely remaining refugee let himself fall to the ground and covered his eyes with his arms. The poor man was certain that death would be near. “Not on my watch.†Thomas screamed as he ran off the hill.
Him and the girl fired away at the werewolves that had the poor man surrounded. It seemed to work, the two of them had bought him enough time to enter the mansion unharmed.
Louie witnessed another wolf getting shot by the sniper. ‘Through the head, every single time.’ He looked up at the bell tower and saw to his surprise that the gun was aimed at him this time.
He dodged in time for the bullet to miss him. Alexander lay on the ground and Greymane looked at him in disgust. Louie threw his sickle towards the beast, it pierced through its hand, splitting it in half. The sniper had reloaded within a matter of seconds and took another shot at Louie, who was a little slower this time and felt the bullet scrape the skin off his arm, leaving a small patch of flesh smoldering. Alexander had gotten up of the ground and kicked a surprised Greymane to the floor.’ Louie ran for cover to buy some time. He glanced around the corner behind the remains of a small brick wall that had been around this garden in the past. He carefully calculated his next steps. He would run to the bell tower and take out his would-be assassin.
The fountain would make a good cover; he’d have to rely on his agility. Louie jumped out from behind the wall and ran for the fountain. The sniper had reloaded and had Louie’s head in his scope. He smiled as he pulled the trigger.
Michelle reached for her pocket, the ‘cookie-cutter’. She just remembered Tier had told her that this device would take out a werewolf without any effort. “Hey, back off.†Michelle shouted. A young man carrying Tony came walking towards the house and slowed down when he noticed that it was unsafe to walk on. Several werewolves had broken away from the group while the rest continued to head for the house of the Bradhurst’s. Tier hadn’t been lying, she used the device on the first wolf and it literally crumbled away in front of her, leaving nothing but a pile of dust. The other wolves started to back off and ran for their lives.
“How is she doing?†Susan asked Tier who was sitting by Yakira’s side. He took notice of Susan and raised his shoulders. “Her situation hasn’t changed yet.†Their eyes met; Susan was the first to look away. “Say, would you mind sitting by her side while I go outside for a moment? I have this feeling that something is not alright.†Tier asked Susan and he left without a response.
“Sure, no problem.†Susan said after he had disappeared from the doorframe. He was going to get a good book to read or watch a documentary about wild animals, he enjoyed that sort of thing.
Tier did not come a second too late; he walked down the stairs and saw Majo staring through the window in the front room. “Company?†It didn’t take long for her to answer him. “Help!.†Werewolves, he never had a problem with them before during their previous encounters. Greymane and his wolves had always ignored him, which was wise of them.
Tier opened the door and stood face to face with a group of eight wolves, an unexpected surprise to say the least. The biggest of the group kicked Tier in the stomach, which was an even bigger surprise. The kick send him flying through the house. Majo wanted to run towards Tier to see if he was ok, but a wolf grabbed her by the wrist and drooled all over her clothes when he came in closer. His jaws opened and his sharp teeth and rotting smell made Majo realize that this would be the end of her short life. She was almost defenseless, apart from a well placed kick in the wolf’s groins. No matter how foul the species, a kick in the manhood would always put them in their place.
She ran for Tier as one of the wolves spoke “Where is the girl?â€
“Girl? Well, there’s one right over here, would she do? Tier looked at Majo while she helped him up.
“Where is the girl?†The wolf repeated, slightly more irked then before.
‘They must mean Yakira.’ Tier thought to himself. ‘If we give her to them, we might get rid of them a lot easier.’
“Are you just going to stand around while they take her?â€
For a moment, that seemed like the best idea to him. “Hang on, let me show you.†He said as he got up. “I believe the girl you are looking for is this way.†He said, slowly making his way towards the kitchen. The largest wolf that had asked them walked over to Tier. “You’d better not be lying.†He said as he pushed him in the back. Tier was not impressed and gave the wolf a sly smile. “You shouldn’t have done that.†And with that, he took a bite out of the wolf’s hand. The beast screamed and the other wolves readied themselves for the fight that was to come. Another figure appeared in the doorstep.
The young girl took out her weapon and struck two wolves with it that reduced to dust like their brother had done before them. Two of the beasts tried to escape but met the same fate before they could leave the house. “It’s useless to run; you should not have come here.†Michelle spoke but Tier had a different plan. “Run to your master and tell him to leave us in peace, it’s useless to come back. We’ll be ready and waiting.â€
The young man walked into the house with Tony slumped over his shoulder. “Who the heck are you?†Tier shouted as Susan came running downstairs.
Alexander had fired two shots at Greymane, both of them didn’t seem to pierce through the beasts thick hide. Killing the ancient thing seemed like an impossible task.
Then he remembered that he was carrying two armor piercing bullets with him. He reached for his pocket but the wolf was quick and it struck him its claws soared through the air and cut open his arm.
“(-) it!†Alexander shouted. He could feel the bullets slip from his grip but he managed to wrap his hand around them. Then Greymane struck again. This time it was a little more serious, a hard kick in the stomach made Alexander fell back and he lost his grip on the bullets that rolled through the grass. Those two bullets seemed the only way for him to get out of this nasty situation. The smell of Alexanders blood made Greymane lose it and he forcefully struck again. His victim rolled out of the way and made the werewolf bury his claws in the bloody soil. Alexander felt one of his bullets against his cheek as he had rolled right on top of it. He quickly picked it up and let it slide down the barrel of his gun. One should would have to be enough to take this thing down.
He aimed his gun but the wolf moved around too fast for him to get a good focus.
“Stay still so I can shoot you.†Alexander mumbled. The wolf had no intention to obey and kept moving out of reach. Alexander pointed his gun away and kept his eye on the beast. ‘You’re going down one way or another.’ The wolf stood still underneath a tree, a big branch hanging over his head provided the perfect opportunity. Greymane breathed heavily and his eyes were tired and thick. Alexander’s last bullet cut through the branch and landed on top of Greymane.
The beast screamed but did not have enough strength left to free himself from his prison of nature. Alexander leaned over the wolf. “Who ordered you to kill us?†He demanded to know.
“Why won’t you just end it Alexander? You know I won’t tell you anything.â€
Alexander walked back to the place where he had found his Armor piercing bullet. After a short look around he picked up the second one and turned back to face Greymane for his last few minutes. He loaded his gun and aimed it for the wolfves’ heart. He felt sorry for him when he looked at his face. He had enough of life and could not wait for Alexander to set him free. The bullet spat out of the gun and the wolf turned his eyes away, breathing even slower than he had done before.
“He used us, as puppets. He’ll come…â€
Alexander knew it. The werewolves hadn’t been themselves today. They seemed much weaker than their normal selves and they never hunt in packs greater than ten.
The silence was broken by several shots from the sniper in the bell tower.
Why was he still shooting? Most of the werewolves were gone, he noticed something else. He was the only one left on the battlefield, the door to the mansion stood open and the fighting went on inside, screaming refugees made him run for the broke down door, hoping he would make it in time.
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