A/N: First off I'd like to thank Studio Zolo, MavisDeSilvaHelsing, and the guest for reviewing as well as the follows and favs. I've noticed I've hit a few milestones like writing more than seven chapters and getting my story over 28k words, sadly the story will slow down. If you haven't seen my bio, I've started a new job that has me working for most of the week and between my favorite passion of gaming, my time reading and writing will be cut short like greatly. I really don't want to give up on this story as I've put a lot of thought into it and have so many more ideas for this universe. Peace out, be safe out there, I don't know when I'll post up here again but good luck.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone here, Sony Pictures Animation does. OCs are mine.
Chapter Ten
Shallow breaths escaped from Dennis' mouth as he moved on towards Hoia Forest with his squad following suit. He took a sip of his bottled coffee in his left hand, which had a taste akin to bad beans and river water. He had his rifle trained in his right hand and glanced down at his left wrist, 6:03 his pad read.
They had set out about 4:40 that morning after drinking up some coffee and redressing Wally's wounds. The town had drifted out of view and is far behind them now, they were now passing through a decayed forest. Dead trees and shrubs blocked the view ahead. They would have moved on faster if it wasn't for Wally, who trailed in the back of the group.
Thankfully the weather had all but cleared, the rain had stopped completely, the wind had died down, and there was almost a hundred percent visibility. Dawn had started to peek in the East behind them, it would have been a sight to see with the rays hitting the retreating storm clouds, creating a pink–orange aura in the skies above them. But they couldn't break now while being pursued.
They were now on the edge of the woods when Dennis slumped on a tree husk, panting. He finished up the coffee and threw the empty bottle on the ground. It didn't help him at all with his level of drowsiness, he only wished he had gotten an ounce of sleep.
Some blood, now that'll jumpstart me.
"You okay boss?" Jake placed a large hand on an opposite tree, surprised it was able to support his weight as he leaned. He had both rucksacks.
"A–okay, just need to catch my breath."
"Hey what's the issue!? Let's go!" Wally yelled, pissed that he had to stop. The pain didn't seem to bother him that bad when he was in motion. Winnie shot him a look over her shoulder and placed a furry finger over her mouth, urging him to settle down. Feeling ill after staying up with Dennis, she felt like she had circles around her eyes.
Dennis looked up from the ground and to the southwest, he saw a series of hilltops run along the dark skyline. It was a clear path to the forest over those hills, according to his arm pad. His eyes then shot to the dark ground before the hills that seem to span to the North and Southeast infinitely. A few sunken cars were submerged halfway and a tank turret stuck above the surface in the middle, a mud field.
"Alright," Dennis breathed out as he stood back up. He pointed to the mud field. "Looks like we have to cross that mud field to get to the hill, only way to get through is to walk. The vehicles haven't fully submerged so it probably isn't quicksand."
"Probably?" Val quipped.
The dhampir shrugged. "Most likely. The only option I see for ALL of us to get through is take the walk, stay close, and hope we don't sink."
"Let's get this show on the road dude." Wally was strutting in place. For all he cared they could sink twenty feet, he just wanted to keep good distance away from Wasilei.
Dennis ignored him and looked to his squad, "you ready?"
Val and Jake gave verbal affirmations while Winnie weakly nodded, they already knew Wally's answer.
Without another word, Dennis turned in the direction of the dark field. He walked right to the edge of solid dirt and stopped, looking around the at the sea of black mud. He coughed up as the scent hit him, like that of burning tires or industrial sludge.
No point in stalling. Dennis took the first step and his boots immediately sunk, he finally stopped sinking when the mud was at his knees. He took another step and struggled to pull his right foot up. "Alright guys, not quicksand." He said with a little bit of enthusiasm.
The dhampir trudged at a medium pace, he tried to go faster but the deep mud simply wouldn't allow it. Jake stepped in behind his footprints and sank in to his waist. He winced at the cold and wet sensation.
"There we go, just let him make a path for us!"
Jake glared ahead at the sound of Wally's voice. "I heard that!"
Valerie was the lightest of the group and was able to walk in the path Jake made without getting her pants that muddy. Unfortunately for the wolf siblings, the sludge leveled back out as Jake and Val moved farther in the mud field.
Grrr! Winnie gritted her teeth and growled as the mud went to her thighs when she jumped in. She might have enjoyed this a decade ago but now the thought of this sludge sticking and drying on her fur made her want to grind her teeth until they cracked. She had gotten a bit more girlish compared to her youth in the underground.
Wally jumped in after her, he didn't seem to mind it as the coolness actually distracted him from his pain.
The tank that was sunk in the center of the sludge field seemed like it hadn't gotten any closer in the eyes of Dennis. He took it slow, glancing behind him every now and then to check on the others. Though it would have been easier for him to just flip form and shoot off, he didn't have the energy in him to carry his whole squad across one by one and he knew there was no way he could carry Jake.
They eventually reached the tank in the center of the field and decided to take a short break. They all sat on top of the turret and let their legs rest.
"Tsk Tsk," Wally looked down thumped the armor of the sunken war machine. He recognized it as a monster made tank by the black paint and the dark green Allegiance emblem. "Looks like someone is a piss poor driver."
"You know what kind of tank this is?" Dennis directed his question at Wally, he didn't keep up with Allegiance military hardware.
"It's a Hellhog alright, though I don't know the model." Wally examined the flat top of the surface. "It's a MK.2 if I had to guess, the top doesn't have an AA gun and the edges of the armor are chiseled down to reduce weight. Basically they took the turret off since it was pretty much useless against most American aircraft and the tanks were heavy enough already."
"You have an idea of what happened to it?"
Wally looked below his legs at the skirts of the tank, forming an answer for the hybrid's question. "No external damage. If I had to guess, it was a bunch of young dumb asses who thought they could run this field." Wally didn't stutter.
"Then gravity caught up with them and there goes an expensive piece of Allegiance tech."
Dennis was surprised the military didn't come to reclaim the vehicle with how new it was, though judging by the area and the type of mud, he can see how it was pushed on the back burner until it was just forgotten about. He glanced over at Winnie who was now struggling to keep herself up straight and not fall asleep. She looked absolutely pitiful, her fur was a tangled mess and the circles around her eyes reminded him of her father. It was a shame she couldn't stomach coffee.
He moved his hand over to her paw, surprisingly she didn't flinch when they touched. Energy that low?
The drained werewolf simply glanced over with her left eye. "Hmm?"
"You alright?" Dennis cursed himself, the most common and stupid question. Obviously she wasn't.
She slowly nodded, "yeah… I'll be better when we reach the conclave."
"Definitely." Dennis couldn't argue with her on that one. His hesitation for their destination had faded and wanted to get there as fast as his tired body would carry him. He stretched his legs down and extended his arms above his head.
Jake sat hunched over the back of the gun, breathing heavily. The sludge pulled on him the hardest of the group and he was feeling the results of a 200 meter walk through it.
Val was resting with her back on the top of the turret, she sat up and looked with concern for her squad mate next to her. "You good, big guy?" She asked as she pat his back a few times.
"Yeah," Jake breathed out. He looked to the end of the mud field and back to the sunrise which had a few rays beating down on him, his breathing was now more controlled. "Just that walk right there and that's my exercise for the rest of the week." Jake joked, eyeing the end line of the field. He moved a weary eye to Wally, half expecting him to make a crack at his size but nothing came from the wolf guard's mouth.
After stretching, Dennis cracked his knuckles. He looked at his wrist and checked the time, it was time to move out.
"Alright," Dennis spoke after he cleared his throat. "It's 7:20 now and we got 300 meters of mud left to trudge through from the looks of it, so if we leave now we should get to the edge of the forest by 8:45."
Most of the group just gave low nods in response but of course Wally was the one who jumped down in the mud and began to move. "See ya there."
Dennis shook his head before he looked away at his squad and gave the order, "Move out."
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Dennis fell forward on his knees with Winnie's arms around his neck, both almost to the point of blacking out and completely covered in the dark mud.
"Fucking shit," Wally fell on his back and coughed up some sludge. He growled and snapped his sharp teeth at the pain pulsing in his wounds, the adrenaline was starting to wear off. That shit's all in my burns!
Valerie made it out not too far behind Wally and hobbled over to a tree stump, almost collapsing on it and letting the two rut sacks fall behind it. She wiped the mud from her face and and leaned on her lap.
Jake fell on his stomach as soon as he stepped on dry land, those 300 meters took everything out of him.
It took them roughly two hours to cross the remaining distance. They didn't count on the rest of the field being a yard deeper nor did they count on it being a death trap, they reeked of decayed flesh. The rest of the field hid a submerged graveyard for the few surviving animals traveling from the forest out to the wastes, it was practically quick sand to them. While wading through the muck Dennis thought he felt the remains of either monsters or humans, his mind immediately went to the tank crew and wondered if they were MIA.
The tired hybrid moved his wrist shakily to his face and made a feeble attempt to wipe the mud off the screen. The CADRU screen lit up at the feel of his glove's signature fabric. It was 9:33, 48 minutes longer than intended.
"Okay Win… down you go," he struggled to get Winnie off his back. Dennis eventually worked her stained body off and gently placed her on her back. Her eyes didn't open and the fast breaths coming from her muzzle was the only sign she was alive. She nearly broke down in the middle of the mud field, strained and having absolutely no energy left. Dennis decided to tote her the rest of the way and let Val carry the rut sacks.
The dhampir looked around wearily at the distant wasteland around them. He was surprised no reinforcements from the city haven't been sent after them yet. "Wonder where Wasilei's goons are?" He wondered allowed.
"Probably giving us a heads up," Wally groaned. "He always likes to toy with his prey." The werewolf pulled himself up and made for the stump Val was on, he sat himself down a few feet next to her.
Dennis sat down next to Winnie. The clouds were gone and the sun's rays were beating down on them, making the dhampir ill. He hadn't been in the daylight since his training days, he already missed the coolness of a clear night. Dennis figured they could rest for now, but they'd have to get moving soon, much to his dread.
"Bunch of softies," Wally grunted as he scowled over the down guardians. "A couple of years ago I had to swim across an entire lake in Pennsylvania during the winter, while sleep deprived, just to rendezvous with my unit to take a Coalition FOB."
"And by 'lake' I assume you mean a twelve foot pond," Val quipped with amusement.
"Wilbur can tell you, you know once we take back the city from those degenerates." Wally spoke distantly, like he was reminiscing the agony he felt that day. Only a temporary distraction from the pain he felt now.
Val couldn't stop a giggle. "I was just screwing with you, he told me."
"Was that before or after the break?" Wally glanced up slowly.
"Before, obviously."
Wally shrugged in response and looked back out to the mud field they just crossed. They didn't speak for a few minutes until Wally broke the silence. "Yep… those were the days, the last days of the American front. It was basically like Battle of the Bulge on steroids, we had the remaining Western forces cornered in the northern parts of America and those winters were something to remember."
Val stared straight ahead, but she listened to every word he said. Wilbur told her plenty of stories of the American Front whenever he would come home on temporary leave and most of them were really nasty, almost as bad as the Eastern Front where Wasilei's pack fought. Though it seemed like Wally was more of the badass than Wilbur with the latest stories, she'd poke fun at Wilbur for that.
Even now, Wally was still talking about some of the many battles and his fallen brothers. She watched him and his dull face as he spoke, sadness was in his feral yellows. It had been only a year since the war had ended with the nukes but the wolf guard seem to bear semblance to an old werewolf even though he was in his early twenties. Even though he seemed outwardly feeble compared to his older brother, He was stronger in the eyes of Valerie. Not in the same since, though looking in his eyes she saw somewhat of a wall made out of indifference, like he just blocks everything out. Yeah, he shouldn't do that.
"…hey Val? That's what you go by isn't it?"
She immediately snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Wally's voice. She shot her eyes Dow to see him staring up at her quizzically, a smirk forming on his muzzle. "Did you ask me something?"
"Yeah," Wally laughed. "I asked if you have any stories or past… experiences."
Valerie's mind went blank for a second, "aside from the time we stopped Bela from killing Drac, there's nothing I really care about sharing."
"Figures…" Wally looked back down to the dirt with a chuckle. "You guys weren't on the frontlines, that's why you're all so soft."
Val wiped some of the mud from her face and hands. "That's not really fair since are training was harder."
"Right, but you guys didn't have to kill any humans didn't you?"
"No but we did kill other monsters, which is considered by many to be morally worse."
Wally simply grunted and cracked his neck, he decided to leave that there.
Val heard him mention something about his commander awhile ago and thought back to last night. "What'd you say your commander was? Brenten?"
"Braxton," Wally corrected. "And yes, he was."
"Oh… sorry for the loss." Val realized he was one of the casualties from last night.
Wally didn't look up. "I am too… dude made it to the end of the war with us just to get capped by some brood."
Val didn't say anything, she could see the glare that formed in his eyes. It went away though, and his muzzle changed to humored smirk.
"Pretty funny," Wally started with a laugh. "I remember in Spain when our landing ships were America bound and he took the reins from Wasilei. He showed up wasted, and the first thing he told us was alright, here's how you don't end up dead… what difference does it make, you'll probably end up dead anyway!"
Val couldn't hold it and she broke down in a fit of laughter. "Wow… that's so depressing."
"I think he lost half his pack to a cruise missile the night before, so yeah it was kinda depressing." Wally tried to ease his laughing but another thought hit him. "Oh and the look on Wasilei's face… man that wolf hated hybrids."
"He was a hybrid?" Val asked as she composed herself.
"Yeah a Vaewolf, and you now the Allegiance is with hybrids."
Val nodded, she frowned as she thought back to some discrimination she herself faced. "I got few heated glares myself even though I'm not really a hybrid, there're stores back in the city that won't even let me in, just because I smell and look too much like a human."
A frown began to tug at Wally's muzzle as he looked up at her. For a second, he saw that isolation he saw in the vaewolves he served with… until she made eye contact and turned away. So fucking puppish, he mentally cursed himself. "Hmm, maybe the brood trashed those places and they'll let you in once you help Dennis save the city."
"Doubt it," Val shook her head. "But maybe they'll at least stop making faces."
There was silence between the two until Wally decided to finish up his Braxton boasting. "But yeah, he assimilated the rest of his pack with my remaining brothers and that was it. We were off to the States."
Jake and Dennis were starting to stir, giving the two spectators the idea they were asleep. Val gives Wally a smirk, "looks like we'll have to wake them this time."
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The edges of the forest came into view as the group made it over the hill. It looked just like a normal block of woods to the average eye with low shrubs and a mixture of oak and pines. It seemed like a breath of life in a dead wasteland, but Dennis could feel something about this place in his blood. Some pretty strong magic was at play in this forest.
"Finally!" Jake bellowed. "I swear if there was nothing but wasteland beyond this hill…"
"Please don't say that," Winnie breathed out out.
Dennis smirked and gave her sidelong glance. "Still up for talking?"
He could see her shoot him a look out of the corner of his eye but he didn't look at her. "It's alright Win, just joking." Unlike Winnie, he felt a little more lively than he did since his thirty minute nap. The sun was also covered up by a series of cumulus clouds forming in the sky.
Dennis motioned for them to stop once they've reached the forest edge, right at the opening of a path. There were some rather strange effigies planted in the ground and some ornaments made from critter skulls hung around a pine tree.
"Heh, at least they're not entrails." Wally's voice trailed. The skulls clattered together as a sudden breeze past through, and the effigies black cloth arms waved lightly. The ambience of the forest didn't sit well with them either, the sounds of birds and crickets replaced the distant winds of the wasteland. They hadn't recalled the last time they heard natural ambience like this.
Dennis found a sign nailed to the trunk of the same pine tree with the skulls. There were red letters in Romanian smeared in what he assumes was either blood or red paint, he hoped it was the latter. Everyone else was fluent in Romanian except for Valerie, who was only semi–fluent. Dennis decided to translate.
"Hoia Forest edge, traders leave supplies halfway down path near shed, intruders stop and turn here or never come out…" His last words hung in the air.
"Friendly bunch," Val muttered.
Dennis didn't even look at Winnie, if she wasn't so ill he would've said something like I told you so. He didn't really know what to do now, some part of him wanted to just call it quits and go straight for Budapest. He knew that wasn't an option, they needed supplies and transport.
"Anyone have any ideas?" Dennis asked partly out of defeat and partly to hear his squad mate's opinion.
"Honestly, I think we should just book it straight to Budapest." Val suggested. "I think I'd rather die of exhaustion then be boiled in soup for whatever monster version of inbreeds live here."
"Between the lack of supplies and Wasilei's pack, we'd be lucky if we get to the Hungarian border." Wally reminded.
Jake remained silent, he really didn't want to go back to the city. If there was another way around the mud field it was another trek entirely. Like Valerie, he didn't want to go in the woods either.
"Screw it, let's just go in the woods." Wally took his shotgun and cradled it in his good arm, muzzle aimed down the path. "The fuck is a bunch of pansy mages gonna do anyway?"
His sister looked up from leaning over a tall shrub and raised her eyebrow. "Uh… a lot actually."
"We're like armed, trained, and we have our own mage–person." Wally deadpanned and motioned to Dennis.
"Do you even hear what you're saying?" Winnie returned the look with more aggression. "The correct term is 'Battle Mage' and the conclaves are mainly made up of veteran mages… well mostly."
"See, you don't even…"
"Stop!" Dennis held his hand up to stop that before it got out of control. He looked back down the path, the sign, then to his squad. "I've thought, I've listened, you still want to do this Winnie?"
The worn wolf girl looked down when his eyes fell on her. She shot a dirty look at her brother, she hated the thought of agreeing with him. "I guess… seems like we're screwed no matter what we do, at least with this route we have chance of refueling."
Dennis nodded, he looked to the rest. "You with?"
Wally clicked the safety off his shotgun with a deadly smile.
Val and Jake just nodded. They didn't want to, but they saw the logic of their situation.
"Alright then." Dennis took in a deep breath as he turned back to the path, he himself didn't really want to do this. He pulled the charging handle back on his rifle a few times to get the mud out before clicking the safety off. "I'll take point, the rest of you stay alert and weapons ready."
"Let's go."
The path was longer than the group had anticipated, they'd been on it for at least over half an hour. The path would become narrower and would widen out not a few yards later. There were some low parts of the path that were flooded but it didn't deter the roving group.
They all felt uneasy in these woods, Dennis in particular. There were some times in the past he would feel it, whenever he was in an enchanted area, this forest was that five fold. Drac told him it was their blood and that they're sensitive to certain levels of magic, always saying he'll get used to it every. Pfft, I don't know want to get used to this level of anxiety and itching.
Despite how dead the forest looked with it still being late Winter, the strange woodland was alive with the sound of various birds, bugs, and chorus of frogs. They even saw one rabbit go across the path but the werewolves didn't have the energy to go after it. The liveliness of this place almost seemed artificial. Most of the group stopped when they saw some trees on the side of the path, they had curved trunks that seemed like they were trying to arch over the trail. Winnie and Dennis read some old pamphlets about those, it claimed they won't even supposed to grow there because of the soil content. Just another weird thing about these woods.
The group were absolutely silent, which allowed their thoughts to run rampant. Well at least for Dennis. He couldn't get his mind of the city, the death, the chaos, Drac, and what could happen if they're not fast enough. The dread of meeting the conclave dwellers didn't even rival it. There was obviously something bigger going on with the betrayal of Greem, and he didn't like not knowing. He was almost tempted to take Val's CADRU of her wrist and blow the hell out of Stone Cold's message box.
The hybrid froze as soon as he broke himself from his thoughts, Winnie bumped into him. He brought his fist up into a 'halt' motion.
Not even a fifty meters down the path, an old structure sat behind some trees on the right side. Dennis cursed himself for not noticing sooner since the place stuck out like sore thumb in the natural canvas.
"I'll check it out," Dennis stated before training his rifle up and cautiously moved towards the old shed. He assumed it must've been the shed the sign mentioned, which would mean they are now halfway from the conclave.
It didn't take him long to get to the front doorway, there wasn't a door. It was an old and basic sheet metal barn, the sheets were mostly rusted and vines grew along the outer walls. He listened for some time for any movement inside before peeping his head in. There was only one large empty room, with a few pallets on the old wooden floor which he guessed that was the place for supply boxes from traders.
Dennis made a 'come here' motion as he moved away from the shed. "All clear," he said just above a whisper.
"What now?" Val asked, a bit confused. "Where's the conclave?"
Dennis pointed behind him. "If I had to guess, it's another long walk down the path."
The group's moral dropped a little lower than it already was. Another long trek, and more anticipation. With their luck, the inhabitants were already aware and stalking them.
"No more time to waste then." Wally slung his shotgun on his shoulder. "Hey Dennis, you mind using that heal–magic you have. The pain's coming back to me."
Dennis' spell temporary patched him and the group were off again. Dennis ordered them to keep the barrels of their weapons lowered so they would seem less of a threat just in case the conclave dwellers were observing them.
They walked about a quarter way until Winnie stopped in her tracks, causing Jake to bump into her. "Sorry about that Win."
She didn't acknowledge him, and instead cocked her ears as her gaze moved to the woods on the left. The fur on the back of her legs and neck began to stand up.
"What's the hold up?" Val asked, a bit agitated. She had both rut sacks again and wanted to find the Conclave sooner than anyone.
Winnie simply put up one of her fingers, urging her and everyone to be quiet.
Dennis turned around as he didn't hear the other's steps anymore and raised his eyebrow at Winnie, he began to quietly walk back. He nudged her and gave her a 'what's up' look when she turned.
"We're being watched," was all she said before she turned back to the left.
"I hear it too." Wally was also focusing on the woods. "The leaves cr…"
"Shh!"
Not long after Winnie silenced him, a distant sound made them all flinch. Everyone heard it, a thud of a limb or something heavy followed by some clattering.
Something in the trees, Dennis thought.
Both Val and Jake began to bring up their weapons when Dennis waved for the two to lower them. However, a whooshing sound filled their ears as something large began to fly to them. Dennis broke his own order and raised his rifle, the others did too. It was too big to be a large bird, the only other thing that came to them was a bat crony, or Bela.
"Shit! The fucker followed us here!" Dennis harshly whispered.
The armed group waited, ready, but the thing turned as the sounds seem to move in the direction of the path. Dennis caught a glimpse of it though the treetops with his vampiric vision, something greenish. He lowered his weapon and his guard only slightly, no crony but still a monster.
"Did you see it, Dennis?" Winnie whispered to her zing.
"A glimpse, yeah. Didn't look like no crony but was definitely a monster of some kind… and I'm sure it knows we're here."
"Great," Valerie mouthed as she picked one of the rut sacks back off the ground.
"I got this one," Jake picked up the other.
"Alright, let's get moving." Dennis ordered as wearily turned away from the woods and moved back on the path.
"I'm not keeping my gun down anymore." Wally remarked as he took up the rear, walking backwards.
It's was about a twenty minute walk now after their encounter with the flyer, and the group began to speed up their walking. They didn't notice but the forest had grown quiet, no animals, no wind. Just the sound of the leaves crunching beneath their feet echoing throughout the woods.
Dennis began to become twitchy as the sense of magic became more intense, it wasn't long now.
A large wooden structure came into view at the end of the path, causing the group to stop. Dennis looked closely and could tell it was a gate of some kind.
Dennis made a stop motion, "move up slowly."
They followed him as they crept with their weapons ready to be brought up in case of a threat. They could see the gate was connected to a larger fence that seemed to go around quite a distance. There were no treetops visible behind the structure which gave the impression that a clearing was behind it. Iron fittings and window frames could be seen on the front of the gate and log spikes jutted out along the top of the fence. They'd be lying if they said it wasn't an impressive design for forest dwellers.
Dennis was closing in on the entrance when some bark fell from a tall pine to the right, getting his attention. He raised the muzzle of his rifle up as he scanned the tree. His gaze stopped at the tallest branch where he could make out a shimmer, it was something alive.
"Show yourself, we're not here to cause harm." He spoke as loud as he could without shouting.
The two werewolves tried to get a scent from the sudden breeze but all the got was the scent of the tree. Their ears were sharp enough to hear it breathing.
The being shifted slightly, and a set of yellow eyes glared down at the intruders. It was some type of flying creature they could tell, smaller than a crony but it did seem to have more bulk. It didn't respond, only it's breathing intensified.
Wally pointed his shotgun up, an irritant scowl on his muzzle. "Hey pal we don't have all day, you could either answer us or we fill you full of silver, your choice."
"Hey!" Dennis snapped as he glared at Wally.
Winnie face palmed, he's done it now.
The thing started to move again, away from the trunk and out father on the branch… revealing a gargoyle. It's hard skin was the same color Dennis saw, a slimy bluish–green. It's shark like teeth shown behind curled lips as it glared down at the group. "You allegiance types," it spat in a guttural tone. "No respect, no regard for the work we do, and no decency."
Wally returned the glare through the iron sights of his shotgun.
"Gun down, Wally." Dennis lowered his head in annoyance. He looked back up into the glowing yellow eyes and chose his next words carefully. "We're not gonna do that, is the Hoia Forest Conclave? We'll leave if it isn't."
The gargoyle's glare disappeared but his scowl remained. He extended his wings and closed his eyes, he appeared to be stretching them. Clicking sounds could be heard from the creature as he appeared to be thinking. "And what if this is? So you can defile it?"
"No," Dennis shook his head. "We're low on supplies and one of us is hurt, we also have to make a long trip so if we could get some food or gear or at the very least have permission to hunt and camp in your forest."
"You can't 'own a forest' idjit, and I might not want you or your imbeciles in this great haven." The gargoyle's words dripped with sarcasm.
Unease fell across the group, though Dennis was now impatient with Wally. "Well whatever you decide, we need to know now."
"Hey Berkeley! Are those kids here!?" An older male's voice came from behind the gate.
The gargoyle known as Berkeley turned his head. "Just a bunch of allegiance young bloods playing soldier!"
There was a pause. The group stared to gate in confusion.
"Is there a ginger vampire among them!?"
Dennis raised an eyebrow. Wally held a laugh and quietly snickered.
"Ugh…" Berkeley looked at Dennis for a second, then moved his yellow saucers along the rest of the squad. "Yeah! But I think he's a hybrid!"
There was another pause. Dennis was curious as to how the other guy knew they were coming, or how Berkeley knew he was a hybrid. He looked over to the rest to see nervous stares except for Wally, who had a nonchalant expression and played around with the sling of his shotgun.
"Z wants him now!" The voice demanded.
Z?
"Hmm, looks like your fate is in her hands now." Berkeley mocked.
Dennis looked at him, confused. He turned to Winnie who nodded hesitantly. He waved for the others to lower their weapons.
"Those won't do you any good here anyway," Berkeley said with a hint of menace. "I wouldn't keep her waiting."
Dennis gave him a cold look before making a head motion for his squad to follow. The gate began to open as they made their way too it and standing along the side holding a lever was a zombie, no, a ghoul.
Ghouls were like zombies, except for them having more of their features preserved from when they were alive, and they aren't slow. This ghoul looked to be a male in his human 50s, he had on a grey suit and tie, strangely. The right side of his face had decayed and exposed his black teeth, the rest of his skin and hair was mostly intact albeit pale.
He stared at them with steely grey eyes as they walked through the gate, holding what appeared to be an auto–loading crossbow in his left arm.
"Ugh… hey is…"
"Save it for her." The ghoul cut Dennis off and pointed to a hooded figure in the center of the conclave.
The conclave itself was rather small but it looked like a paradise in the group's eyes regardless, especially compared to the wastelands or the city. Aside from log houses, the perimeter was mostly a grassy clearing with a strange monolith–like object in the center. A creek cut in under the wall in the back of the conclave and the largest building was a sheet metal barn like the shed down the path, except with it being much larger.
Dennis eventually closed in on the woman who appeared to be tending to a small garden. He put his arm up to stop the others as he continued to approach her, who acted as if she was unaware of his presence.
"Good morning, Dennisovich."
The hybrid froze. She spoke with an old Romanian accent and had the sharpness of a snake, chills went up his spine. How the hell does she know who I am!?
"You and your friends can make yourselves at home here, for now. We have much to discuss, very much." She turned and pulled her dark brown cowl down, revealing herself.
