Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 50

Moving as silently as he could, Xun made his way along the fabric. He could hear growls and the sounds of something wet.

Swallowing, he peeked around a wooden partition. There was the wolf hunched over someone. He could see feet sticking out, but nothing else. The puddle of blood was enough for him to know there was no saving whoever it was.

Another movement caught his eye, and he saw Max and Jerome hiding behind another wooden partition. Their eyes were wide and their skin was pale. Xun waved to get their attention.

Looking around, he spied a rope hanging from above. Following it up, he could see a type of metal framework high above them. Not far from their hiding place, he spied a ladder. It didn’t look very stout, but he imagined it would be just fine for the two to climb out of harm’s way.

He turned back to them, to see they were staring at him with a mixture of hope and panic. He pointed to the ladder and they turned. Jerome nodded in understanding and pulled Max to it. Max shook his head. The terror in his eyes spoke of a different fear, and Xun turned back to see the wolf raise up. It had heard a noise, and was turning their way.

Without a second thought, he jumped out with his sword and axe. The werewolf raised up on his back legs and howled. Xun could just imagine it was laughter, and that made him angry. He took the opportunity of it howling to jump forward and stab it as hard as he could under the ribs, hoping to hit the heart. It snarled as the sword pierced deep, and backhanded him.

He flew through the air, hitting the fabric and hearing it rip. If he had hit anything hard, Xun was sure he would be dead. As it was, he was sure he had a few broken ribs. It hurt to move as he fought to stand.

The werewolf snarled and Xun looked to see it was trying to climb the flimsy ladder. It must have seen Max and Jerome climbing it. They gazed down at him, but he couldn’t tell what the look on their faces meant. The ladder was soon going to break under the onslaught and Xun knew it would come after him. He slid under the torn fabric and made his way away from the wolf. Another one was among the chairs, tearing into someone who must have tried to hide. It saw him as he moved to the edge of the stage and jumped over the chairs between them.

It landed on the slick concrete and skidded into the edge of the stage, breaking the wood and getting stuck. Xun wasted no time heading for the door as it clawed and bit at the wood trying to free itself. He slammed the door shut behind him, listening as the beast crashed into the metal door. Thankfully it held, and he turned to flee the building.

Outside wasn’t any better. Bodies littered the streets and he could see at least three more werewolves running after people who were running for their lives. A bell started to ring from the center of the compound, and Xun saw another wolf emerge from the rubble of a building to head towards the noise.

Breathing hard, he turned away and made his way to a different building. Making sure the door shut behind him as he entered as quietly as possible. There wasn’t anyone around. Nothing looked familiar as he made his way down the hall to a flight of stairs. Dust was thick on them as he decided to climb to the next floor, leaving a clear trail of his passage.

Turning, he made his way out of the building, pausing to make sure the way was clear, and sprinted as fast as he could to the gym. The room that had all of the training weapons was untouched. He grabbed all of the arrows he could find. They had thick blunt tips.

The kitchen was his next stop. It was a mess. One of the wolves must have chased someone all over the room because the tables and chairs were scattered. Glancing around quickly to make sure nothing was about to attack him, he made his way to Bob’s bar. The place was empty, but at least it wasn’t trashed like the cafeteria had been. He made his way to the closest table and set the arrows down. In the middle of each table there was an oil lamp.

Xun picked up his bundle of arrows, as the stench of lamp oil stung his eyes and nose. While he had been prepping, he had been trying to think about where his friends could be. The most likely place to look would be in the library. He hoped that was where all his friends were, safe in the map room, wondering where he was.

As he left the bar, and then the kitchen, he knew that he wouldn’t find anyone there. Everyone was freaking and trying to find hiding places. This place didn’t have any, so they were all dying. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his ribs, he made his way down the road.

Ahead of him, there were three wolves tearing at a group of people. His mind couldn’t make sense of who they were killing, only that there was a hand laying there, a foot over there. Swallowing his bile, he set the bundle down and pulled a firestarter from his pocket. Not wasting any time, Xun caught the arrow on fire and flung it with all his might at the werewolves. Pain clouded his vision as it sharply reminded him of his injuries. As his vision cleared, he saw a monster of fire rushing past, howling in pain.