Chapter Nine

The Passing: Animal I've Become

Dakota's POV

Rip, tear, shred. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill! Prey things mine! Shred the crying girl! I couldn't think straight, just about the feeling of the blood splattering on my stomach and hands as they ripped the Witch apart. When she screamed at me, I lunged forward and bit into her throat, ripping it out and throwing it with my teeth before going back to tearing her. I didn't notice the hoard around me, or the gun shots, until the Witch had stopped moving.

I found myself disappointed. I liked the struggle. Then, a hand touched my shoulder. I snarled and screeched as I pounced on top of the fleshy thing that had touched me. My gold eyes widened when I saw, it was Cas and froze. It came flooding back; I wasn't supposed to be like this, I wasn't supposed to LIKE killing. My hands were still poised to rip the skin and muscle from her sides, so I slowly removed them and scrambled off of her. I kept going backwards until I hit a tree, close to hyperventilating. What did I do? I almost killed Cas! I can't stay; I can't stay close and protect them anymore. I have to leave-

"Baby Girl?" I snapped my head up to face Nick, my whole body shaking in fear... of myself. "You in there?" I nodded as I sunk to the ground, feeling the cold tears running down my face as I saw everyone's reactions. Rochelle and Coach were shocked and scared, holding their guns tightly. Ellis was standing just behind Nick with a look of sadness (or was it pity on his face), Nick himself was walking towards me slowly and without his gun. He got close enough to touch me and held his arms out. I shook my head harshly and slammed my eyes shut.

"I- I can't! I'll hurt you... Like I hurt Cas! Or worse!" I went to lick my lips, tasting the Witch's blood on them still, and almost vomited. I tensed up as I felt arms go around my curled up form. "Let go! I could kill you!" I struggled a bit before I heard a voice I didn't expect.

"Darlin, I ain't lettin' go." Ellis? What the fu... "You protected us plenty, and I think we should give ya another chance." I started sobbing into his shirt, not even caring if I got blood on it, and carefully grabbed the front of it with my clawed hands. "Shhh, it's okay, darlin. Let it out..." I could feel him rubbing my back as I cried, not just for what I almost did, but for my mom, dad, boyfriend, my friends- everyone I had lost to or because of the infection.

The sweet moment was lost, though, and my world shattered as a buck shot hit the ground next to Ellis and me. I pushed him away and lowered into a crouch as I turned to the others. I felt my heart drop when I saw that it was Jon that had shot his combat shotgun at us.

"Hey, what the hell!"

"Jon! What are you-"

"Leave him, Cas. He's doing what we have to do," Peter said with a deep frown as he pushed Cas behind him. I went to stand up, but Jon gave another warning shot. I shrunk back down and took a step away from them, towards the pagoda behind where the Witch had been. Suddenly, Peter charged at me with his ax and I jumped to the top of the structure, not even grazing the edge with my feet. "Go on! Get, you fucking monster!" I had never seen him so mad.

I looked at Jon one last time, seeing him close to tears, before leaping down to, what I assumed had been the reception area, and ran away from them. I could hear Cas, Nick, Ellis, and even Rochelle yelling for me to come back. I tried to push back the tears as I jumped on top of a bus, then to the top of a building, almost missing the edge and scrambling up to the roof where the rain beat against my hoodie and exposed skin.

I crawled to the middle of the roof and used the rain to clean the blood off of my stomach, neck, hands and face. After about half an hour of crying and feeling sorry for myself, I heard the group passing by my hiding place and risked a glance over the edge. Cas looked liked she had been crying, Nick and Ellis looked pissed to be alive, and Rochelle just looked murderous. Jon and Peter took point, looking stoic and emotionless, while Coach just looked confused.

As they entered the safe room, I could hear as an argument broke out almost immediately after the door had been barricaded closed. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I came to my own conclusion;

If I couldn't protect my new family from their sides, I would do it from afar. I would follow them, kill any special infected that dared take them, and make sure they got to New Orleans safe and sound. If I lost them after they got back to the car, I knew there was an evac center at a theme park called Whispering Oaks. I could find them there.

A few hours passed, and the sun had set without them leaving the safe room. Nick had bitched at Peter for hours, and I think I even heard a few punches thrown, but now they were quiet. I sighed and opened my bag and took out my black Assassin's Creed beaked hoodie, folding my boyfriend's old one carefully and placing it inside, and also grabbing some red and black checkerboard duct tape I had grabbed on impulse before we had even left my home town in New York.

I wound the tape around my thigh, just above my knees on both legs, 4 layers thick. I didn't bother with doing it around my ankles; the rips in the jeans were down to my shins and it would probably use up all my tape if I tried to make them like a "normal" Hunter's. Next, I put on the AC hoodie, pulled the hood up and zipped it up, putting the tape around my upper biceps and forearms; putting it around my wrists was a bad idea since I like rolling the sleeves up. I unzipped the hoodie, grabbed my bag and sword, and leaped into an abandoned room to look into a mirror. I had found a working lantern (along with toothpaste, some dark eye makeup, and a large hunting knife) when I visited the small apartment earlier and used it so I could see myself better.

I slid off my hood, the weight of it pulling the hoodie off of my shoulders, but the duct tape on my biceps stopped it from coming off. My skin had gotten a little paler and I had lost another few pounds. No wonder Hunters nearly destroyed their prey, their metabolism was through the fucking roof. I had taken off the bandage over my original bite mark a while ago, it being nothing more than a curved line of scars now, and I rubbed it absently. I sat on the floor next to mirror and started brushing my hair (hey, I needed some sort of normalcy!), once again putting it into a side braid. Next, I started putting on black eye liner on that small strip of skin above and below the lashes of my lower lid and did the same to the top. I continued to put on the gray and silver eye shadow on until felt a little better about how I looked. It wasn't gaudy by any means, I just looked a little bit more normal. Plus, the makeup would help keep the glare away from my sensitive eyes. All in all, I guess I looked fine, for a Hunter.

I walked over to the window and looked out to the safe room door below. I noticed Cas was the one on watch, but she was dozing off. I grabbed my sword, running my hand over the sheath while biting my lip. I jumped down next to the door silently, pausing as I heard bodies moving. Once I was sure everyone was asleep, I slid my katana through the bars after carving a message into the wooden sheath, making sure the hit got stuck so it was hanging right in front of Cas' eyes. I glanced at everyone one last time before climbing back to my room to get ready for what sleep I could get.

I had to hold my nose while I brushed my teeth. The combined taste of blood and mint was not as good as it sounds. I curled up next to the window after shoving the dresser and bed against the door. "Goodnight, guys..." I whispered into the darkness just before my eyes closed. "I hope you can forgive me someday..."

I woke up with the sun, wincing as it stung my eyes. Pulling my hood up I stretched my body, going into yoga poses and stretches I had learned while doing some MMA training ages ago. I looked down to the safe room, seeing the sword gone, but they were all still inside. They were all eating some of the canned food that was stored in there, and I heard my stomach growl, sounding more like a dying whale than a rumbly in my tumbly.

I strapped the hunting knife to my thigh (the thing was 13 inches long and made me feel like Crocodile Dundee) and moved the bed and dresser from the door, grabbing my bag as I left. I found the kitchen of the small apartment, surprisingly with a refrigerator that was still running. I covered my nose before opening the door, just in case something had gone very bad. I was surprised further when I found unspoiled milk, a pound of bacon and a dozen eggs. I hurried to the stove, almost dancing on my toes. This would be the first thing I've eaten in almost 4 days... if the stove worked.

It was a gas stove, and after a few clicks the burner lit. My day was starting amazingly, which meant it was going to suck later, but I wasn't going to complain when I could have a hot meal. I cooked the eggs and bacon in a (again surprisingly clean) pan and just chugged the milk from the carton. As I sat down to eat my meal and had just put my bag down, when I heard a low growl come from the room I had been sleeping in.

I dropped into a crouch and snarled back. Being a Hunter was all about animal instinct, and I had plenty of that. I tensed as I saw another Hunter crawl into the room. He had his destroyed hoodie unzipped like mine and his gray chest was covered in tribal tattoos, but he had exposed his weakness, literally. He was horribly emaciated and favoring his right leg a bit. I stood up a little straighter, and growled lightly. He lowered himself onto his side and exposed his belly to me and made small whimpering sounds. I was astounded; he was showing submission, to me! I was a lot shorter than him and obviously weaker, being only half changed.

He started slowly making his way toward me, nuzzling my leg with his face and still whimpering. I had no idea what to do, so I just took half of the food on my plate and set it in front of the male Hunter, and stepping back. He waited till I was a few paces back with my plate before he began wolfing down his share of 3 scrambled eggs and a quarter pound of bacon. I ate mine slowly, keeping an eye on him. When he was done, he just left. I expected him to stick around for more, but I didn't complain. I finished eating, cooking the rest of the eggs and bacon and stuffing them into a container with a lid. This could feed me for at least a day.

I heard the safe room door open about an hour later and I ran to the window the see where they were going. Towards the pool hall? I shrugged and followed them on the rooftops, killing two Smokers and scaring off the Hunter from earlier. He had stayed close, following behind me at a distance.

I kept an eye on him as my family went into a tattoo parlor across the street from the pool hall. He crept closer, until he was about ten feet away. I sent a warning growl at him, only getting that submission posture again as he got closer. I noticed he was shivering and realized why he kept following me. Hunters were never alone; he needed a pack for protection, warmth at night, and helping in the hunt.

I reached into my bag and pulled out my boyfriend's hoodie, nuzzling it before pushing it towards the Hunter. He sniffed at it before looking up at me for permission. After I growled shortly at him, he ripped the tape off of his tattered hoodie and but his new one on. His face was alright, but he was blind. I could tell from the way he kept his eyes shut and the scratch marks around them. Once he had it on, I put my duct tape on the same spots I did. I'm guessing that made him part of my pack, and I was Alpha now. I guess I would just call him Beta for now.

I shook my head as I heard Cas thank Nick for something. I looked down as they left the tattoo parlor, gasping as I saw the tattoo on her right forearm. It was the same one on my back, or at least close to it. I smiled at the action, almost laughing when Ellis bounced out of the parlor with a new tattoo as well. His was of a rose on a razor wire stem on his right pectoral. My happy moment was ruined when I saw Beta fly of the roof with a scream and land Peter.

I flung myself of of the ledge, landing next to Beta before shouldering him off of Peter. I put a foot on either side of Peter's body and screamed at Beta. I sounded like I was a full blown Hunter and I used it to my advantage, screaming at Beta until he was in the submission pose again. Even then, I pounced on him and roared in his face for good measure. I got off of him after a few seconds of silence and he climbed back up to our roof. I just turned to Peter, glancing him over to make sure he was unharmed, and followed Beta. I could hear Cas, Ellis and Nick once again call for me to wait, and I just sat on the edge of the building watching them.

As they entered the pool hall, I remembered what I had scratched into the sheath of my sword, hoping she would like it.

"Niente è vero, tutto è permesso. The wisdom of this creed is revealed through these words. I work in the dark, to serve the light. I am an assassin. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. Requiescat in pace, sorella. I will keep the monsters away."

SabakuNoGaara426
I know ya'll are reading this b/c I check the traffic graphs! Rate and Review!