Time seemed to slow down to an agonizing pace as The Hunter stood smiling at Asher's limp form. Oh how he enjoyed seeing others in pain, especially if he had caused it!
"See that, weasel? One shot is all it takes. I guess you were right; it doesn't matter what you are because I can still kill you." The Hunter motioned to the rifle he still held in his hand, and he brought it up to firing position. He aimed the crosshair at Fang's head, and prepared to shoot.
Fang was still in shock from Asher's demise, but he was aware enough to notice that the man in front of him was going to fire. Just in the nick of time, he dove out of the way of the bullet and landed on the floor beside Asher.
If only I had that much luck in the casinos.
The Hunter, obviously pissed off about missing his shot, glared at Fang with fire in his eyes. "So…THIS is the way it is going to be, huh?" Once again, the rifle shot up to the man's repulsive face.
Though, Fang wasn't about to let his guard down. With unmatched speed, he brought out his own weapon to face The Hunter's fearsome rifle. The pistol hadn't failed him yet the entire time he had been imprisoned, and he hoped that it would not falter this time. His life depended on it.
"You think that sad excuse for a gun is going to get you anywhere?" The Hunter taunted, and started to step away from the lightbulb. With no other source of light in the room or coming from the hallway, he seemed to disappear completely as if he were a ghost.
Oh shit…where did he go?
Fang hesitated for a moment, and started to head over to one of the boxes against the wall. He kept shifting his gaze to the shadows, where he occasionally thought he spotted movement. The pistol in his hands was shaking slightly as he approached a box. Maybe he could snipe The Hunter from inside one of the boxes. Fang was about to hop into the one closest to him until he got a glimpse of what was inside.
A whole pile of bloody skins was carelessly stacked up in the bottom of the box. Most of the furs were riddled with stains, especially the white ones. One pelt seemed to stick out from the others…it seemed oddly familiar, though he could not think straight with his heart pounding madly in his ears.
Pat? They skinned Pat?
Fang had made a foolish mistake to just stand there and stare at the contents of the box. Before he had even sensed anyone near, he heard the gunshot ring out in the room. By then, it was too late.
An excruciating pain ripped through his arm, and he fell to his knees.
Augh…he got me…
Too much in pain to speak, Fang gritted his teeth and clutched his arm as The Hunter came into view. The burly man had that same twisted smile smeared across his face as he stared down at the weasel.
"I would have thought you might have put up quite a fight, 'Fang'." The Hunter smirked, and reloaded his rifle.
Fang kept on wincing, even though he felt like giving the man the fight he had hoped for. The pain in his arm was unbearable; the gunshot wound was starting to bleed profusely. Fang slowly rose to his feet to face The Hunter.
"Pssh. If you wanted to kill me so badly, why did you hit me in the arm, hmm? I'd say you are just a shitty marksman." With that remark, Fang stuck his tongue out at The Hunter, trying not to let his arm bother him.
"TAKE THAT BACK, YOU ASSHOLE!" The Hunter glared at Fang in a cold stare.
"Bite me." The weasel responded, and fingered his pistol with his one good hand.
That set The Hunter over the edge. He threw his rifle to the ground, and fumbled into another box. In seconds, he pulled out a huge machine gun that was at least twice the size of his rifle!
"I DON'T NEED TO BE A MARKSMAN WITH THIS!" The Hunter roared, and started firing bullets everywhere like he was drunk.
Fang was smart enough not to stand around with a machine gun. He darted off toward where Asher lay, with a rain of bullets following his path. Though, it was still dark, even as he got closer to the lightbulb dangling from the ceiling…
Unfortunately, Fang could not see where he was going, and a small box on the ground was positioned right in front of him. He tripped over the box, and landed with a thud on the floor. Within seconds, The Hunter was once again right in front of him. Fang found himself staring down the barrel of the massive machine gun, and he froze.
"You are mine, weasel. ALL mine." The Hunter mocked.
Fang only had one shot at this. If he messed this up,
he would die. No second chances, even though he was an excellent
sniper.
He sat up quickly, and brought his pistol to aiming
position. Not wanting to see if he missed or not, Fang shut his eyes
and pulled the trigger.
BANG.
The Hunter stood still for a moment, seeming to stare into space. He dropped the machine gun, and started to sway back and forth before toppling over to the ground.
After a few minutes, Fang opened his eyes to stare at the motionless man on the floor. The Hunter returned the stare with his own blank gaze. He did not move any longer.
"…Oh my God. I actually did it." Fang whispered, dumbfounded at how little a chance he had had of making that shot. He made a silent cheer, and started to smile when he heard a small whimper come from Asher's direction.
"F…Fang…"
With the realization that his friend was still alive, Fang crawled over to Asher's side and stared the wolf in the eyes. The bright yellow that had once shined in them was fading.
"Asher! You are alive!" Fang gasped,
and embraced the wolf.
"Yes…but I'm…afraid not…too much
longer." Asher replied, his voice almost a whisper.
Fang's
grin faded as he remembered the incident that had happened that
afternoon, and about what Asher had just said. Remorse started eating
away at him.
"I'm…I'm sorry Asher! I should have listened to you! You were right and I was wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong!" He started sobbing like he had never done before in his whole life.
"…it's okay…Fang. I'm…sorry…too….." Asher watched as the crying continued.
"But I got you into this mess! If I had listened to you, you wouldn't be hurt! Everything would have gone back to normal!" With only one thing left on his mind, Fang brought his pistol to his head, and lay his finger on the trigger.
"I'll do it Asher! I'll do it if you want me to!" Fang stared back at Asher with a determined look on his face.
"No…Fang…don't do it…that is…only going…to hurt more…" The wolf waited until Fang brought his gun down.
"Oh Asher, don't go! Don't go! You mean too much to me! You are the only true friend I have ever had!" Fang admitted.
"…Well…if…we…are indeed…friends…will…you take…a final request?" Asher's voice started to lose more and more of its vigor.
"Anything, I'll do anything for you!" The weasel sobbed, and strained to listen to his friend's wish.
"Set…the…others…free……" Asher gave one last breath, and closed his eyes forever.
Knowing that the wolf would no longer speak again, Fang lay his head down on Asher's side and cried himself to sleep.
---
Several hours later, Fang woke up. He frowned as he realized what had occurred earlier. Asher was dead, but he had left Fang with a dying wish. It was only right to do what was requested.
With a sigh, Fang stood up and gave one last look at Asher's immobile corpse.
"Adios, Asher."
He took his hat off in respect, and bowed to the wolf before heading out the door.
Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be any other staff at the slaughterhouse, making Fang feel a whole lot safer. If there had been a security team, things would have gotten quite difficult. After all, Fang didn't feel like fighting anymore. He fixed his hat back onto his head, and listened to his solitary footsteps echo through the building.
When he reached the hallway with the rows of cages, Fang tried to figure out exactly how he was going to free them. He did not have the keys for the doors, but The Hunter probably did. Fang refused to go back down the hall and retrieve the keys; the last thing he wanted to see again was Asher's limp form on the floor.
Then, it occurred to him that he could use his gun to shoot off the locks on the doors. It was worth a shot. He had to do it…for Asher's sake.
Fang walked over nonchalantly to the first cage. He peered inside, and found that the creature who lived in this cell was none other than the young woodpecker that had asked to see his gun! She was sleeping peacefully with her head tucked in under her wing, unaware that she was about to be liberated.
BANG!
The padlock on the woodpecker's door quickly fell to the ground as the bullet hit it, making the door of her cage swing open. The loud bang from Fang's gun startled the bird, and she quickly snapped open her eyes. She gasped when she saw who was at her door.
"It's you, the one who killed Jane!" The woodpecker had such a loud mouth that her cries of excitement woke the rest of the animals in the hallway. Groans were heard until Fang was spotted. Several voices broke out into comments.
"Well,
would you look at that! Mr. Weasel comes to rescue us!"
"I
never thought I would live to see this day!"
"Where is The
Hunter? I don't think he would allow this!" The woodpecker
blurted out, and started to walk out of her cage.
"Oh, that ass? You don't have to worry about him anymore. I took care of him like I did Jane." Fang couldn't bring himself to smile, even though he had eliminated a huge threat.
"I didn't know that guy was a donkey. He looked like a human to me!" The woodpecker smiled, and started for the hallway. She opened her wings wide, and crowed so that all of the residents could hear:
"I'M FREE!"
Fang nodded to the bird, and moved on to the next cage. He repeated the process of destroying the locks on every single door until he had freed all of the animals in the hallway.
The elk who had witnessed Jane's death scooped Fang up in his antlers, and snorted to get all of the other animals' attention. All eyes were fixed on the beast within seconds.
"Tonight we were set free from this awful prison by this weasel, Fang. Not only did he set us free of our cells, but he liberated us from The Hunter and his assistant as well. Now we will never have to face those humans again!" The elk bellowed in an inspirational speech.
"Hooray!" The animals stuck their paws in the air in unison, and followed the elk as he led the procession with Fang balancing on his antlers.
"I guess I'm famous now." Fang shrugged. It felt good to have fame, but nothing could really cheered him up now.
The parade marched on until it reached a door near the front of the building. All of the fauna came to an immediate halt.
"Uh, we forgot about the front door." A beaver pointed to a large steel door that was blocking their way. The whole crowd of animals sighed in despair.
"We can't get out!" The beaver slapped at the door with his tail in an attempt to knock it down.
"Wait. Let me see…" Fang leapt down from his perch on the elk's antlers, and approached the door. He firmly knocked on it, and immediately pulled his arm back.
"Oh shit, that was my bad one…" He started rubbing the spot where he had gotten shot on his arm, and turned to the swarm of creatures.
"No use trying to shoot it. It's steel, so even multiple bullets won't do a thing." Fang shook his head.
"Wait! I can try something. Everyone, get out of my way." The elk backed up a few feet and then charged at the door; his head low so that his antlers stuck out like menacing spikes.
WHAM!
The door fell over as the elk hit its steel surface, and all of the animals started to run out into the open. Families were reunited with each other and groups met together in the grass. After they gathered together, they scurried off into the forest surrounding the building, not once looking back at their former jail. Eventually, the elk pranced off as well, leaving Fang alone by the doorway.
"Freedom doesn't feel as good as they make it out to be…" He looked down at the ground, and kicked at a rock lying near his feet. "I guess I should try and find a way back to Station Square myself."
As Fang walked out into the open, he heard a faint humming noise that sounded like the drone of a fly. The sound got louder and louder, until Fang could see that something was riding toward him.
"Nack!" A shout shattered the silence of the forest. He knew that voice all too well.
"Nic?" Fang squinted into the distance. The thing that was riding toward him was none other than his younger sister, who was driving his air-bike the Marvelous Queen!
When Nic reached her brother, she stopped the Queen right in front of him. The moonlight against the air-bike's steel frame made it gleam like a knight in shining armor.
"Oh Nack, you are alive! I thought I would never see you again!" Nic motioned for Fang to hop onto the back of the Marvelous Queen. "Hurry before they spot us!"
"Nic, there is no danger. I killed off the two that were responsible for all of this mayhem." Fang put his pistol away on his belt, and clambered onto his bike. It was then that Nic noticed the wound on his arm.
"How did you get that?" She hastily grabbed his arm, and examined it with a careful eye.
"Nic…please. I just want to leave. You can look at it later." Fang rolled his eyes and pulled his arm away. "Get her moving." The Queen rose into the air, and started heading away from the facility.
As the air-bike moved on, Fang took one last look at the slaughterhouse in the distance before it disappeared between the maze of pine trees.
Goodbye…
---
Meanwhile, back
inside the dim back room of the building, a single voice echoed
through the now empty halls:
"I'll get you someday, Fang! Then
you will wish you had never been born!"
