Wolf and Red: Monster Hunters!
Ten
"Well, fuck," Mimi Johnson muttered as they saw the armed men charge.
"Fuck," Red agreed, calmly taking aim, shooting her rifle and making one man's leg explode in blood and gore.
"Don't shoot to kill," Wolf added as she fired a pistol in each hand, "we don't know if they're army or whatever!"
"Yeah, yeah," Mimi muttered.
The group had driven up north in BC, eventually hitting the region near where the Wendigo attacks were reported. And of course, there were no hotels nearby.
Well, there was a 'room to let' with a local yokel. All three women took one look at the shack and went 'Nah.'
So they pitched the tents in a clearing not that far from the woods and made camp. They cooked dinner, ate, then set up security around the camp. In addition to a fancy infrared motion detector, they used an old fashioned 'can and fishing line' noise maker, just in case.
Then at about two am, the old style alarm went off...
There were five guys, in commando gear (light armor, military fatigues, rifles and night vision rigs) and they apparently had a means of killing the infra-red. Someone, however, missed the wire. And all three women rolled out of bed, armed.
"Two down!" Wolf put two in one's chest, judging that pistol rounds wouldn't go right through the vest. They DID knock the guy right down, leaving him stunned and breathless.
A crossbow bolt slammed into another guy's shoulder, staggering him. "Heh!" Mimi smirked.
"Why did you bring THAT?" Red complained.
"You know I don't like guns," Mimi answered tersely.
The two remaining soldiers hesitated, then grabbed the wounded and tried to bolt.
"Stop or I'll shoot!" Red yelled.
Before they could, the men vanished into the trees.
"Why...?" Mimi asked.
"I wanted to find out why they tried to sneak up on us," Red growled.
"I could follow the scent," Wolf offered, but Red shook her head.
"There could be others waiting to ambush us," Red said grimly.
"It's a trap!" Mimi quoted the infamous movie.
"YES, Admiral Ackbar, we got that...," Wolf laughed.
"Well, I'm not trying to go back to bed," Mimi noted as she looked around warily, "what's the plan, bosses?"
"Yeah, I ain't sleeping here," Wolf agreed, scouting around. Very common, generic ammo scattered around. Partial metal jacketed, no hollow points or such. Odd.
"Agreed," Red nodded, "pack up the camp, let's get closer to the site the reports came from, see what we can see."
They loaded up the van, and headed out. "I'm not sure they were that serious about killing us," Wolf noted mildly.
"What." Mimi asked.
"No hollow points. Or silver, for that matter. Wouldn't they know normal ammo wouldn't stop me or Red?" Wolf asked.
"Huh. Point," Red muttered.
Mimi kept an eye on the road as she asked, "So, did you guys do something to make armed gunmen try to kill you?" She snorted, "I know it's not me!"
"Damn if I know," Wolf sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The site wasn't near any big cities. They could (probably) have based themselves out of Kitimat, but there would be a drive up the coast. Plus, basing themselves in town might be an issue if there was shooting, again. Getting arrested sucked They parked and got out, each hefting a rifle and Mimi, her trusty crossbow.
"Did you call Smith?" Mimi asked as they moved out.
"Yeah, via secure phone," Red said flatly, "he claims he knows nothing about the attackers. Also there's no Canadian Forces ops nearby."
"Think he's lying?" Wolf wondered.
"Dunno," Red admitted.
"So the sightings were by deer hunters, right?" Mimi asked as they advanced.
"Yup," Red agreed as they kept a eye out.
They weren't that far from the shore, and could smell the sea. There were hunting and fishing lodges not that far away, either...
"Anything?" Red addressed Wolf, who was sniffing at the air.
"Nothing but human scents. Might be the trace has faded away, though," Wolf cautioned.
"Hmph," Mimi grunted. "Don't Wendigo attack you on sight?" she mused aloud.
"Theoretically...," Red agreed.
"So if we're not being attacked, no Wendigo," Mimi said reasonably.
"Well, yeah," Wolf conceded.
The group advanced through the woods, looking for whatever had caused the monster reports to come in. Sadly, there wasn't much sign of anything.
"Can we just say 'screw this' and go to Kitimat and check into a hotel?" Mimi asked eventually.
"No," Red answered flatly.
Wolf gestured them to silence. "I hear movement up ahead," she told them quietly.
"Wendigo?" Red whispered.
"People. I also smell gun oil... they're armed," Wolf answered.
Red and Mimi exchanged 'what the fuck' looks. Red decided, "Okay, we advance QUIETLY. Maybe we can catch them by surprise."
They crept up, moving through the bush almost silently. Wolf was even quieter than the two women, moving like a graceful shadow. They cautiously came into sight of the armed men, then stiffened a bit in surprise.
It was the same five guys who had tried to jump them.
"You're kidding me," Mimi murmured softly.
"Spread out a bit... then we'll jump them," Red ordered. And in the end, it was just that simple...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"I feel like a Scooby Doo character," Mimi muttered as they stood over their captives. Not far away was a concealed dock, and an expensive speedboat loaded down with... stuff.
"So you've been pretending to be monsters to drive away locals and protect your smuggling," Wolf noted.
"Well, yeah," the leader admitted weakly.
"You IDIOTS," Red growled. "Do you realize we were sent up here on a shoot to kill job? If you had popped up in disguise, we'd have shot you!"
"Eeep," one of the men whimpered.
"And why did you come after us with guns?" Wolf demanded.
"We heard from a contact in Vancouver that Hunters were coming," the leader admitted, "I figured costumes wouldn't scare you off."
"So instead you got your asses kicked via guns," Mimi noted irritably. "Who's your contact in Vancouver?" she demanded.
"I..." the one guy started.
Mimi casually pointed her crossbow at his eye.
"They're with Bishop's! That's all I know!" the man yelped.
"Fuck," Red sighed.
"Yeah," Mimi agreed grimly.
"So what the fuck do we do with them now?" Wolf asked. She was still cranky over them shooting at her and Red... oh, and Mimi too.
Red sighed then growled out, "You know what? This is not our problem!" She addressed the lead goon, "We are leaving. But understand that we ARE reporting everything to the Province once we hit Vancouver."
"We could pay you..." the one guy tried, then wilted under her glare.
"You'll have a few days before the RCMP comes," Red added, "clear out, and make sure we never hear from you again. Or we'll just fucking shoot you all."
"You think they'll try going after us?" Mimi murmured as the three left.
"They're not THAT stupid," Wolf said, but did keep a wary eye behind them.
The five men were frantically loading the boat, clearly intending to flee in it. It looked like fighting them was the last thing on their minds.
"Why don't we crash at a hotel in the city tonight?" Mimi suggested. "We never really took a break from your last trip..."
"Why not?" Wolf looked at Red, who nodded.
To be continued...
Notes: I was originally thinking of doing a monster hunt, but all the bits I've written so far on these characters has been that. So decided to do something more mundane.
