Part 1 here
Part 2 here
Part 3
Today was another bust. Third nest this month that was just full of yellow eyed younglings. Well, they won’t be maturing that’s for sure. But still no sign of that bluish green eyed alpha. The police are out looking for me. I saw a patrol ask around with a photo of mine when I came down for supplies a few weeks ago… the old photo.
Just when I got out of that police station I was being held in, I packed and left my cabin and headed straight into the woods. I’ve been tearing through the ‘Darker Woods’ to find their nests. I figured if I burnt enough of them down the pack leader will show up soon or later. I was right. After a week of burning down nests all over the forest a silver eyed alpha found me. Wasn’t the one I was looking for.
The bastard almost took my right eye. But, I managed to save it… most of it. At least I can still see through it. Even if it is a little fuzzy at times. I reckon soon it will lose light completely. Better make the most of it while I still can.
As for that silver eyed alpha… it won’t be coming for my eye again. Not from the hell hole I dropped it in.
I moved to another grid of the forest I marked and found a small town adjacent to it. My scarred-up face and facial hair disguised me well from those cops. They couldn’t make me out. One of them came up to me to show me my own photo to ask questions. Funny. They’ll figure it out soon or later. I hoped to be out of this grid long before that happens.
I made myself at home in the forest with a makeshift home. Goddamn military training coming in handy in times like this. And I thought it would be all for nothing once I was out. But I guess I’m thankful I have these skills, given the circumstance I am in. And before you ask, I won’t give you details on my military career. I’ll give you this much, I wasn’t in the marines or any kind of special forces… this ain’t that kind of movie…
I go by ‘Jack’ to the local townsfolk; pretty generic I know. But it was a name that will be forgotten soon so no point brainstorming about it. Anyway, I got down to the town’s gunshop to purchase some ammunition for my hunting rifle and shotgun I brought from my cabin. The shop was owned by a gunsmith, Jacob. He would make small talk when ever I make a visit, guess he wanted to check me up. He was all suspicious at first, they all were. But after some weeks of making regular visits, they warmed up on me. Just enough to keep tabs on the police activity. They haven’t made it up to this place yet. But as soon as they figure I’ve left the area they’ll widen the search. One thing that still bothered me was why there was nothing on the media. No news report or radio calling out for the help of the citizens. It was very quiet. That bothered me.
As I make it into the gunshop Jacob sees me and raises a hand. Looking towards me with a nod of approval of sort and recognition.
“Hey there Jack. What can I do you for today?”
“I need some shotgun shells and a box of 308s. Do you have any tactical night scopes?”
“For a 308? I’ll see what I have.”
Jacob looks at me with a stern face with a hint of concern but in turn goes to the back of the store to search for the items. Aftera short while he comes back with a scope and a box of ammunition.
“This is all I have. It’s not high quality but it will give you night vision.”
“This will do. Thanks.”
I pay for the items and proceed to exit the building. I can see Jacobs eyes glued to my back in the reflection of the door glass. I ignored it and walked out. Probably going to be like this for the rest of my stay. No matter, wasn’t looking to settle down anyway.
That night, as the forest became dark I got ready for the hunt. I scoured the area during the day to locate key areas that may have nests. I found traces of the creatures about a couple of miles from my base camp. Traces that would have gone unnoticed if you weren’y looking for them. I approach the area I scouted before with caution. From a distance I look through my rifle scope. Slowly, with a keen eye I look towards the black void that has taken place amidst the forest in the distance.
Its been may be 20 minutes or so without any movement. Just the dark void. Just then I see a slight glow in the dark that quickly faded out. I look into the scope, nothing but darkness. I take my eyes off and take a quick glance at the dimly star lit sky and then back into the scope. Refreshed, my eye captures the faint glow in the dark. Two pairs of yellow glows. I wait… and wait… until I see them. A pair of red eyes appear near to the first pair of yellow eyes. I aim between the two red glows in the dark. Sipping the air between my teeth I hold my breath…. Aim … fire…
One gunshot rings through the quiet night sky. Damn, should have got that silencer after all. I look through the scope. Sure enough the two pairs of yellow glowing eyes are approaching my position fast. No sign of the red eyes. I quickly back away from my position and get to my secondary position. Turning around in time to see the two youngling creatures approaching me fast. Galloping on all fours, the creatures seemed mad. Not that you could really know the difference. I wait until they had reached to a certain point. Suddenly the one that was closest to me flinches in pain and falls to the ground. Bear traps that I had set up earlier had snagged it. The other youngling stops in its tracks and glares at me in caution. I look back at it and casually pulls out my double-barreled shotgun. I aim at the creature caught in the bear trap and shoots it in the head. With the head exploded into pieces the creature drops dead. The other creature back tracks and gallops away. [Yeah, I don’t think so] I quickly reload the shot gun and aim at its feet. As the shot misses the creature jumps away to the side and falls into the trap I dug in advance. Punji stick trap, hole dug with sharp wooden stakes that impale the feet to render the enemy immobile or slowing it down.
The creature screams out loud in pain. But then it starts to screech a high-pitch screech. [That’s it. Call them. Call them for help.] As the immobile youngling creature cries out for help I cover myself in the ghillie cape I’ve prepared and crouch behind some trees. The creature realizes I have hid out of sight, and starts to look around while still calling out for help.
Soon, from a distance I see shimmering red glows approach from the void. No silver eyes. Disappointing. As the red eyed adults approached the youngling’s position I got ready. This had to be quick and precise. I pull out a carefully hidden bottle. It was carefuly wrapped and coated with mud to hide the scent. I light the cloth hanging out from it and without thinking twice I throw it at the creatures and then another one for good luck. Screams of the creatures fill the night sky.
Molotov cocktails are effective. Fire does considerable damage to the creatures, weakening them enough to handle them up close and personal. I pull out my axe. I’ve sharpened it the day before. I run towards the still screaming creatures and hack at their heads. Nice and sharp, the axe cuts through them like knife through butter. The fire had softened their thick hides. Don’t ask me why, but fire seems to make them soft and weak.
The second adult creature tries to fight back, taking giant swings at me. But experience had me one step ahead. I Back off quickly anticipating the swing. The momentum of the swing added with the fire damage, pulls the creature making it stumble off balance. I quickly dash forward and lunge towards the stumbling creature. I swing my axe, short clean upper swing that cut through it’s skull. The creature slumps down dead. I shake off the blood, now steaming on my hand and axe blade. I walk towards the now silent youngling creature. It tries to back away from me. Then with hesitation… it opens its jaws…
“H…help me…”
“….”
“Help… me … da….”
I didn’t give it time to finish. I cut through its skull like a ripe melon. Damn bastard must have been fed a human prey before I got to it. I take my axe and approach the two dead adults. I roll the first one over and start recovering the bear traps. Then with my axe I split open its chest. I see the long deformed ribcage of the creature. I try to cut into it to no avail. Damn… Thought so. Inside the adult creatures are a piece of bone that is different to the others. It glowed silver like. I don’t know the purpose of this piece of bone but it’s small and long. Like a bullet. At first I thought it was a silver bullet that somehow got into one, but later found out that all of the adults had them. The only problem was, the rib cages are damn near impossible to cut through the rib bones that concealed it. The rib cage bone seemd to be different to the other bones. No idea why. The only reason I found the first one was by chance when I was fighting an alpha. The alpha accidently clawed an adult while fighting me and it ripped open the chest, killing the adult instantly. Later after I killed the alpha I looked into the split open adult to see if I can find a weakness that would allow me to kill these things more easily. It was then I found out about the silver bone parts inside them.
I had made a blade out of the alpha’s claws and had been using it to retrieve the bone parts after hunting. I found that the bone dies off into a regular bone piece after the body melts away. But retains its original silver form when cut off from the body with the alpha blade before it decomposes.
Now, you would be wondering why I went all that trouble to recover these bones. Well, it turns out if you mount these into bullets and fire at the creatures, it kills them instantly no matter where you hit them. Actual silver bullets. They’re one time use though.
But, I found out during my earlier escape I had left the blade at the cabin. I thought of returning to retrieve it but I didn’t want to take the risk. So I thought I’d make a new one. Some weeks back before I came to this grid of the forest I hunted an alpha. The one that almost took my right eye. I killed it and took its claws. But then I realized that it’s claws weren’t the same and I couldn’t cut through the bones of the adult creatures. I realized that the alphas were all different and they had different traits.
So now I was left with the dilemma of whether to forget about it and move on or go back to get the alpha blade. It took me another whole day to make up my mind. In the end I would need the blade and the silver bone bullets to kill the one that took my Sarah… The Target Zero… that’s what I started to denote it as. Anyway, I decided to head back to get that blade.
So, the next day at dawn, I left for my old cabin. It was an easy back track. I was so used to traveling through the woods it surprised me how fast I had reached the cabin. I waited from a distance and spent the night vigilant. Not a glimpse of shadow in sight. I foud high ground that looked over the cabin from a distance to scout the premises. Looking down at the cabin I could see that it was empty and there was no one around. No police, no creatures. I’ve already killed off the alpha that was leading the pack in these parts so I assume its safe. But some part of me deep down was cautioning me to stay vigilant.
I waited until high noon when the creatures are more reluctant to come out. The mimicing of other forms are a way for them to roam around under the sun for a short while, but the sun causes them to revert back to their pale rotting form quickly. Too long under direct sunlight in their natural form will cause them to decay and eventually perish.
As the sun sore high above I cautiously made my way down towards the cabin and to the front door. There weren’t any back doors to the cabin so this was the only entry point. I thought it would be a safety aspect when I purchased it, never to realize how much I would miss it now. I carefully assess the door and make a safe entry into the cabin. Nothing seemed to have been taken since my last visit. Occasional disturbed furniture indicated that they did search the area. I quickly make my way to my secret stash storage area to recover the blade. Thankfully they hadn’t found it or they did but didn’t care to take it with them. However the case, I found the blade. I hurriedly evacuate the cabin with the blade packed in my backpack. But as I exited the house I was confronted by four policemen. Damn, how did I not see them? How did they get here so fast and so silently? Was I losing touch? Or was I too caught up in retrieving the blade to hear four men approach the cabin. What ever the case was, they found me and I had to make a choice.
“Daniel Berstein! You are under arrest, put your hands on your head and get down on your knees!”
The policemen are now pointing their weapons at me. What to do. I had to make a choice and make it quick. As I stood there trying to decide on what to do next, the policemen where getting agitated. They were seconds away from pulling the trigger. One wrong move and it would be over. I look into their eyes. I see fear and I see anxiety. Strange. They seemed overly cautious and afraid of me. They started to shout at me, demanding compliance. I start to open my mouth. I see their eyes fixed on to me like glue… focus is good, but too much focus makes you submissive… I look over ahead behind the policemen and shout..
“Detective!?”
Submissive to distraction and sudden surprises. All three policemen turn their heads following my gaze to look back. That spilt second was all I needed. I quickly back step into the cabin with the door shut in front of me. The policemen realize my ruse and pull the trigger. Bullets impale the door that was not much of a shield. Again, strangely they were overly aggressive. They were ready to kill at moments notice. I have to admit that I was tempted to axe my way out. Would have been much easier. But, that much I would not go through with. Guess I still had some trace of humanity left in me after wall.
I pull out my can of bear mace. I won’t kill them, but they may wish I did. I listen to the policemen shouting outside to vaguely figure out their locations. There’s one close to the door and other two off to the right, probably covering the one in front of the door.
I count to three and burst out the front door catching the policemen in a surprise. Me busting through the front door was probably the last thing on their minds. The policeman in front of the door hesitates for a split second and that was all I needed to wrap my arm around the guy to subdue him. The other two approaches to caution me in letting him go. My other hand holding the bear mace back behind the policeman like a gun holding him hostage. I take a few steps towards the two. They hesitate to back off. Probably thinking to tackle me to get their friend free. I take a quick glance at their stance and I slightly push the policeman an inch forward and in a flinch reaction the two policemen took a step forward. They were suddenly in my range. I pull out my bear mace to spray on the two men and they cry out in pain. I push the hostage towards the other two and continue spraying. All three effectively neutralized. I retreat into the woods. As I start running through the forest to get away I am called from behind by a familiar voice. It caught me off guard.
“Mr. Bernstein!”
“Detective… Daren?”
Stopped in my tracks I slowly turn around to face the man that, sure enough, turned out to be detective Daren. The same detective that I met down at the police station before. With a stern voice Daren started to urge me to stand down.
“You are making everything worse for yourself. Please don’t do this. If you run away now you will be hunted and quite frankly I don’t want that to happen. I’ve done everything in my power to keep this incident local. No news and radio.”
“That was you?”
I thought it was strange. Turns out Daren was behind it all along. But why? Because we made small talk? Because he actually believes I’m innocent? Bullshit.
“Why are you doing this detective? You don’t know me. You don’t know my family.”
“That’s true. I don’t know you or your family.”
“Then why?”
“Because I believe you are innocent.”
Is this guy for real? Does he actually believe I’m innocent? After all the evidence that he showed me? After all that interrogation and urging me to confess? Even if it’s true, this is quite excessive to prove the innocence of a man you barely know.
“I don’t believe you detective.”
“Well, I’m all you have. If you run again… and we know what you look like now. It’ll only be a matter of time until we find you. Then I won’t be able to help you.”
“I’ll take my chances…”
I turn around to leave. Seeing detective Daren is reluctant to draw his fire arm and talking about next time they find me. It was obvious he had no intentions of shooting me. But just as I was about to make a sprint for it.
“Think about your daughter!”
“I am.”
“You are not! You are not thinking about your daughter! You are thinking about yourself! Your daughter would not want her father to live his life like this. Being hunted as a fugitive. Turn yourself in and we’ll get through this together!”
Got to admit. He had me with those words. And to tell you the truth deep down I was getting tired and worn. I was looking for an excuse to quit. But uptil now my daughter was my sole motivation and the center of my burning rage. But, would my daughter want this… really?
I slowly turn around to face detective Daren again. I see him grinning. A stupid childish yet pure grin. It made me pull a smirk of a grin in reply. I took a step towards the detective as he puts his hands on his waist in a welcoming manner. I take another step… one more step and I would have surrendered. Until the clouds covered the sun and a shadow dark enough casted upon Daren’s face and I saw it. Red glowing eyes.
“Damn it…”
I see Daren had erased his grin and now looking at me with a blank expression. No emotion at all. He looked straight at me with those red glowing eyes as I pulled my axe out.
“When was it? Was it the day you took me in for interrogation or was it before then?”
I shouted at the creature disguised as the detective. But there was no reply. I can see the glow intensifying in his eyes. I raise my axe in front of me in an aggressive stance. Then it came galloping on all fours at me with inhuman speed. But I was used to it. I quickly turn to one side to evade the swiping claws. As I evade its attack I hack at its arm with my axe. It slices half way through and the creature pulls back in pain. The axe got lodged in its arm and I couldn’t retrieve it. So I pulled out the blade. I make a dash for it and while the creature is wailing its arms I stab it through the heart. Normally the strong rib cage would prevent any sharp weapons from penetrating through but the blade was special. The ‘alpha blade’ dug deep into the creature’s chest and stabbed into its heart. The creature died instantly and proceeded to melt. I quickly kneel before it to cut into its chest but was stopped by approaching noises.
“Well, I guess you won’t be coming after me detective…”
I leave the creature that was once detective Daren and quickly sprint away as I catch a quick glimpse of a dozen policemen approaching from the other side. All with glowing red eyes. Damn, looks like the whole town police are those creatures in disguise. This changed everything. These adult creatures didn’t revert back to its pale creature form under the sun and kept their disguise for a prolonged period of time. They talked and acted like real policemen. Daren was too much human. It actually tried to get to me emotionally. Are these some sort of new kind of creatures? I wasn’t sure. But something tells me that the Alpha, Target Zero, had something to do with it. I theorized that these are a part of its pack and that the adults had inherited some of Target Zero’s traits. Looks like I’m running out of time fast.
Because, as the detective Daren disguised creature pointed out. They know how I look like now. One thing is for sure, the reason they are trying to contain the incident is because they don’t want too much attention on themselves. A whole pack of creatures using the local police as cover? Insane and disturbing.
Well, looks like I won’t be posting a follow up anytime soon after this. It’s going to be a long bumpy road and things don’t look too bright up ahead
So, in case you don’t hear from me after today. Pray for my soul to be with my Sarah.