Chapter 97: Furry Night

The sensation of his foot being shaken woke him up. In a single moment, his eyes opened and he sat up shotgun in hand, aiming forward and ready to shoot. When Rick saw Angela’s worrying face, the confusion and the fog of sleep dissipated. One look at her and it was obvious the plan had worked. The predators have taken the bait. Closing his eyes to focus on his hearing, he tuned out their heartbeats.

‘From the number of growls they might be half a dozen. Maybe more. Two on each side? They’re circling us from the sound of the snow cracking.’

Rick grabbed his axe, hooked it at his side then recovered his .45 in his off hand. He signaled Angela the number of attackers and pointed with his finger their general direction.

Knowing more about the situation, her fear abated a lot, replaced by a fair amount of determination. “We’re surrounded.” She whispered.

“Yeah. I can probably deal with half of them before they pounce. You can assuredly take two. The last two could be a problem so once you deal with yours—”

“I moved away from their direction.” She understood the plan.

Rick warned her further. “Be careful, they sound like… wolves and those…. They distract from the front and attack from the back or sides.”

“Noted.” She nodded. “That leaves the question of how we get out of the tent?”

Rick changed his position from sitting to crouching. After moving in front to the entrance, he nudged his head in the direction of the zipper for Angela to use it.

“I’ll burst out and catch their attention. I’ll go left, then back.”

“Then I’ll take the front and be careful of the right. Alright.” She took a deep breath, her hand gripping the cross of her P90 a bit tighter. Rick could hear her heart beat at an accelerated but steady rhythm. “Ready?”

When she received a nod, Angela unzipped more than half the entrance with one swift move. She couldn’t do more with Rick in the way but it was fine. In a burst of speed he went outside, making the hole bigger, and immediately turned left.

Right there, among the trees, were two mutated wolves. Bigger than normal, that was for sure but also severely disfigured. Much like the cerberus, their flesh had rotted and muscles bulged. It was to the point where it had broken their skin and their fur which had some missing patches all over. Their fangs were far longer and more numerous than normal wolves indicating why the coroner wasn’t able to determine the species which had killed David Collins and Timothy Gallagher.

Their decayed and barely functioning brain had yet to register that he had gotten out of the tent and was now standing at leaping distance from them. An advantage that Rick didn’t miss on using. The shotgun was fired first, the .12 slug piercing one wolf’s skull straight between the eyes and taking the whole head with it as it went through. Only a broken mandible was left.

He fired his .45 next, his action speed being on par with the ejection of the shotgun shell, he couldn’t fire his weapon again. The one bullet fired tore through the empty orbit of the second wolf and blew the back of its head. Rick knew that those two were down for good and shifted his feet to look left, at the back of the tent.

The two wolves there had now reacted to his sudden appearance although not yet to the death of their two companions. Not like they could when it happened so fast. Rick fired another slug but his aim was a bit off and he hit one of the beasts in the chest. It made lots of damage and created a huge hole in the wolf but it wouldn’t stop it for long unless the spine was touched and there was no way to verify that at the moment.

The second wolf had jumped to the side and the bullet missed it. It went to hit the tree behind the intended target. It didn’t matter though, the second scored on the chest and the recoil stuck it in place allowing for a third shot to take its head.

As his perception and tunnel vision returned to normal, Rick turned around, hearing a burst of fire. Angela had just taken down her second wolf coming from the front and immediately moved from her position while aiming to her right. Rick immediately fire his shotgun at wolf #5, while #6 leaped at his partner. He didn’t need to intervene however.

Angela used her P90 as a shield, letting the mutated animal bite into it. Using the beast’ momentum and weight, she dodged to the side while pushing it down to the snow. It barely let go of the assault rifle that he took a tomahawk to the back of the neck, paralyzing it completely. Its head exploded when she fired her new .44 Colt Python to the side of its head.

The last shot came from Rick’s .45, ending wolf #3, the one with the hole in its chest.

“Are there more?” Angela asked, having let go of her axe and holding her magnum with both hands. Firing it with one hand hadn’t been a very good idea and she knew if she fired a second time like this she wouldn’t have the grip to hold onto it.

Rick scanned the surroundings but found nothing. He ignored her heart beating the fastest he had heard and the slight shaking of both her hands. It may have been the fright of the wolf lunging at her or the withdrawal symptom of the adrenaline. Something he wouldn’t be able to tell until a few minutes had passed. One thing he gave her credit for was that she was handling it well. Her career in the police may have played a bit in it but fighting BOW was a few steps above in the risk and fear department.

“I think we’re good. ”

Angela picked up her axe and swiped the blood on it onto the fur of the wolf at her feet. “They don’t seem to come from the lab.” Her P90 was next and she was relieved to see that beyond teeth marks on it, its condition was good. She could still use it.

“No collar, yes. I think… They came across one of the leopard’s victims and got infected.” Rick was crouching down and examining another wolf. “That would explain why only body parts were ever found. Despite its size, the leopard wouldn’t have eaten everything. But it and the wolves? Certainly.”

“So they mutated and became more aggressive which in turn made them hunt in its territory instead of picking on its leftovers.” She voiced the idea she had in mind.

“Possibly.” Standing up, Rick put three new shells inside his Benelli. “I’m of a mind to try to find their tracks and see where they’re coming from.”

Angela walked to his side. “See if there are more?”

He nodded while looking deep into the forest then gave her a shake of his head. “Bad idea. I might be able to follow them but it’s too dangerous for you. Despite how well you did with minimal luminosity.” He pointed out at the fire that was still running albeit small. If they didn’t add wood to it soon it would extinguish. “We’re going tomorrow.”

Her first instinct was to protest when Rick said it was too dangerous for her but before she could he kept on talking and not only praised her but explained his words. Since it made sense, she kept quiet and let it go.

Silently, they checked all the other wolves to make sure they were dead. Once done Rick fed more wood to the flames and joined Angela inside the tent. Looking at his watch he saw it was a bit past midnight, meaning he had approximately. The sun set around 5:00pm so he got a good seven hours of sleep. It was more than enough and so let his partner rest while he took the watch.

After turning and turning, Angela simply laid on her back and looked at the tent’s ceiling. “Ugh… I’m too tense to fall asleep like this.” Less than ten minutes ago she had been in a fight for her life. It didn’t surprise either of them than she couldn’t sleep so soon.

With his eyes closed, Rick spoke softly. “Hence why it’s important to have sleeping pills and make your own dosage.”

That made her frown. “You really do that?” She was aware he was using those kinds of drugs, being witness to it on the plane to Vancouver, but taking a pill and making your own dosage were two different things.

A coy smirk found itself at the corner of his mouth. “I used to when I was in the army. One hour and two hours doses. Not very good for your health and your sleeping cycle. It’s better to pull through the night.”

Angela sat up. “I guess, you’re right.” A sigh escaped her lips. “At least you’re awake so talking is on the table. Having nothing to do while waiting was maddening.”

“Yeah, I put it above paperwork on the ‘things-I-hate-list’.”

That made her chuckle. She had quickly learned that Rick absolutely abhorred paperwork. This was the reason why he was filling his reports the way he did. Beyond going straight to the point it was far quicker, meaning he spent far less time on writing them which suited him just fine and gave him more time to study.

“So…” Rick started a new conversation like this.

“Yes?”

“You broached the subject of my love life earlier but what about yours?”

That took Angela aback. Rick never ever talks about anything not work related during work. Nothing more than a single sentence, much like he had done when he had answered her question about him and Rachel not dating.

Deciding to enjoy the miracle, she spoke up. “Last boyfriend was… eighteen months ago? I didn't have much time to meet a guy after the break up. Definitely not since….” Her words hung in the air but they both knew she meant since the Harvardville outbreak.

“Not even a one night stand?”

“Nope. The idea crossed my mind but honestly, it’s just too much trouble. I don’t know how Rachel does it.”

Rick laughed low. “That’s because she doesn’t have any trouble. She just push her tits on the face of the guy she chose.”

Angela joined him in the laughter. This was true. Rachel always opened her top a bit more than acceptable to get a man’s attention when she was feeling frisky.

“I’m not doing that. I do have some shame unlike her.”

“She’s not entirely shame— Well, maybe.” Rick corrected himself. “But she does get embarrassed. Ever wonder why she’s always hiding part of her face with her hair?”

“I did, actually.” She nodded. “I gathered she was hurt and it left a scar?”

Rick nodded too. “A very thin straight line from just above her brow to the top of her cheek. It’s visible but she’s not disfigured by any means. Personally, I find it cute but to her it’s like the whole side of her face had been burnt to the 3rd degree. Idiot. Sometimes I’m of the mind to just come from behind her and tie her hair into a ponytail showing her face to everyone. To prove she’s still gorgeous.”

“Why haven’t you done so, yet?”

A sigh escaped his lips. “I don’t know… I think… She’s really insecure about it and would be hurt if I did. I don’t want her mad at me either. It’s just not worth it.”

“That’s a fair point.”

The conversation shifted from love life to something just as mundane but less heavy. Canadian food then food in general and when that topic was done with, they seamlessly shifted to another and another until dawn broke.