Keeping a Watch
August 26th, 2015
Three days walk to the South of Safe Haven
xxxxxThings around the region where Red patrols have been fairly quiet of late, the dangers as they have come up have been the sort to be easily recognized and avoided. This might be because of the "bigger fish" dangers have removed the lesser threats. With all of his walkabouts and paying attention to what is where, Red might have also picked up that there don't seem to be a lot of those big dangers approaching the Safe Zone, as though some invisible barrier repelled them before they get within thirty-five miles of the community that is there. He also would take note that beyond that distance, there are almost no people anywhere that he has found. Places where it might have appeared that there were a few people holed up, surviving, those people are gone.
xxxxxHe's near to one of those places now, a "blink and you'll miss it" 4-way stop in the road that is canopied right now by a defunct yellow traffic warning signal. On one corner there is a gas station, another has an old antique store, another a family dollar and the last corner has a small shoe box of a house that the once cheerful yellow siding has all come off of. For a while there was a trio of people who had taken shelter in that house, but they were gone the last time Red walked through. The building was secure enough, making it a potentially good spot to shelter for a little rest.
xxxxxRed is, in fact, taking shelter inside of the building. The man has shrugged his bag off his shoulders, his shotgun resting beside him as he slouches near the door. The trips out on these patrols hasn't been terribly exciting for him, but his radius gets a little wider each time, hoping to find something new and interesting. He's got a small collection of rations and other junk he's picked up, enough to make it through a day or two. Usually if he needs more he can find it.
xxxxxPresently he's fiddling with his phone, one earbud plugged into his ear. He's not terribly worried about things sneaking up on him, especially when the surrounding area seems so barren.
xxxxxIt's very quiet as he's settling in, in fact it stays that way for almost an hour without any of interest or incident happening. The windows at the front of the house still have tattered curtains mostly covering them, and the front door can be braced closed if he chooses, to offer a little security. The house that he'd taken shelter in has been picked clean of anything of interest that might have been there, but there is a sofa that could be used for sleep just inside the living room and a bookcase that has a couple of books left behind and not dumped on the floor.
xxxxxRed does close the door, and there's some time spent looking at the books. Mostly just picking them up, glancing at titles, and flipping through a few pages. He does decide to perch on the couch eventually, moving his stuff over there so he can at least rest comfortably. It's only a short stop, though, so he doesn't hit the hay quite yet. Despite how comfortable said couch might be.
xxxxxWhile Red is resting comfortably, but not sleeping, on the sofa in front of a pair of dingy windows with a narrow gap in the curtains that looks out the side of the house - right into the intersection. As he is sitting there, within the quiet house, he catches sight of motion through the gap as he sees three figures on foot running. The trio look like they might be in their late teens, a single woman and man run on foot and at their heels there is a black wolf. Red's brain registers seeing these figures just as he hears the shriek. It's a sound he's heard before, that shrill shriek of sound that in the past he experienced while being chased by the insectoid monsters while scouting to Bangor with Lee and Lou. As he watches, the wolf stops short and turns back towards whatever chases them and the man has to reach out to grab the woman who is about to stop as well, screaming at her to keep going when it's clear she wants to turn to help the wolf.
xxxxxThe man successfully keeps the woman moving away and as Red watches the wolf begins to change shape, seemingly in preparation to face what is coming, the black wolf increases in mass until it is a nearly tripled in mass, standing on it's hind feet in preparation of meeting the creature that just charges into view with slashing pinchers and the pair tumble into a violent mass that tears, claws and bites at eachother. The shrieking call to others of it's kind has stopped, the shredder occupied with it's fight and there is no sound of another answering.
xxxxxRed observes this, the man slowly scooching up to get a better look through the crack in the curtains. His lips press into a small, pensive line as the scene plays out before him, his fingers stretching slowly to pluck up the gun next to him. Once the wolf has changed and the fight is underway Red pushes himself to his feet, shambling along toward the door. He raises the shotgun to his shoulder, nudging the door open so he can get a bead on the spider-like creature tangling with the wolf.
xxxxxThe creatures in the middle of the intersection are quite occupied, and the other people have fled and are no longer visible as they run up the road, so no one notices the man open the door. As Red takes aim and fires, it doesn't disrupt what is clearly a fight to the death that is ensuing in the road. The shot taken does strike the creature though, and there is fur and viscus material already flying in the dust cloud that is being stirred up by the struggle. The noises being made are feral from the wolf-creature and chittering from the arachnid-like creature and both appear to be harming the other. While Red is watching with the sharp eye of having just taken a shot, he can see an appendage extend from the creature he just shot at, like an insect's proboscis, it extends and seems to attach to the wolf-creature.
xxxxxRed seems displeased by his aim. He keeps an eye on the thing as best he can, taking a few steps closer. He fires again once he's got another bead on the spider creature, attempting to put it down before it does too much hard to the wolf thing.
xxxxxThe fighters continue their struggle, though the wolfman appears to be weakening significantly with the creature attached to it as it is. There is a roar of sound that comes from the wolf, a cry of desperation that seems to acknowledge death coming. But Red's second shot seems to make a difference in the close fight that had just begun to turn towards the Shredder. The shot disrupts it, injuring it and it shrieks in a disapproving sound.
xxxxxRed seems more pleased with that second shot. He also doesn't seem to be willing to give up until the thing in front of him is dead. So, after a second to take aim again, he fires into the fight. Again, at the spider, eyes narrowed in concentration.
xxxxxRed does do as well the next time, the shot going wide as the spider and the wolf tussel around. He has, thankfully, more ammo. Which he will be expending, pulling the trigger again, scooting around to get another shot off.
xxxxxWhile the first shot went wide, the second shot seems to have a significant impact on the fight as it strikes true and the archnid creature's shriek is cut short with a shuddering motion that causes it's proboscis-like appendage to release from the wolf with an audible "Pop" that causes a spray of fluid to arch away while the creatures legs and pinchers move. The creature drops off of the wolf, falling to the ground with a tangle of limbs. The motion of it causes the wolf-creature to loose it's balance and it staggers back from the creature, falling down to one knee and a hand on the ground as it creature works to get it's bearings and perhaps assessing it's injuires.
xxxxxRed breathes out a sigh when the spider finally rattles backward, the man lowering his gun. Mostly so he can reload it, digging shells out of a pocket and working on that. He keeps his eyes on the wolf now, the motion rote enough that he can observe the other creature. And make sure it doesn't try to eat him next.
xxxxxAfter a moment is spent, seemingly needing to recover from something, the wolf creature rises back to it's feet though with a somewhat hunched posture. It reaches down to pick up the creature that had attacked it, picking it up in it's bare hands it seems to be trying to rip the creature in half, but the best that it does is to rip two of it's legs off of it, throwing them to the ground in disgust. It takes a moment, staring at the house as though waiting to see if the man there shoots at him next. If no shots come, soon enough the wolf monster shifts form once more, something that would make someone not possessing their own supernal place in the world question their sanity. It shifts it's form with minimal effort back into the sleek black wolf that was already seen and then turns, leaving the creature there, and running up the road after the other two who had fled.
xxxxxRed, once he's reloaded his weapon, doesn't raise it again. It looks like he might, for a moment, while the wolf regards him. But once it turns to hustle off after the other people he tucked it over a shoulder, taking a few steps back. Once the creature is out of sight he heads back for the door to the house, nudging it open and moving to grab his stuff. He, too, will be moving soon.
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