Warnings: Guns, Hunting, Animal Death, Body Horror (animals having parts/shapes they shouldn't)
Characters: Jameson Jackson
Forty-Theme Challenge, Prompt 13: Alone
Apocalypse AU
A stream with its tainted water trickling nearby, branches above shuddering in the light breeze, boots padding softly around felled stumps and leaves. A few miles out from their vault tucked away from prying eyes, and Jameson kept his rifle close.
He'd seen a deer—a doe. Had been tracking her for some time, now.
On the surface, she didn't look like she had any mutations. That was a rare prize. They might be able to use every part of her if she was just as healthy inside as she looked out. Food, a blanket, tools of bone, and thread. All things they needed. Desperately so.
She was headed east: Opposite the direction to the city from their vault.
The hunter tipped his masked face skyward. No sun. They hadn't seen the sun in a long time and his goggles made the amber sky look darker. It had to be just past noon.
Coming upon a small slope, Jameson tucked one leg under himself and slid down.
With the ground still soft with a recent rain it was easy to track her. Just wear her down, he thought. You've got limited ammo, so wait until you've got a clear shot.
He'd seen glimpses of her over the last few hours. Really gotten a good look for a good few moments, but nothing long enough for him to bring his rifle up and take aim.
Another glimpse, a flash of fur, as she bounded off into another cluster of trees.
He trekked after her.
There was an old cabin somewhere around here. The residents inside had died in their sleep, poisoned by the radiation that vaults scattered throughout the world had protected survivors from. None of them knew how many years had passed from the time they were put to sleep to when the vaults finally woke them again; all they knew was that it had been a long, long time. Nature had reclaimed cities, animals had mutated—some unrecognizable—and there were only scatterings of small groups of human survivors.
This doe—though he wouldn't call it mutated, not by the standards of others he'd seen—had a shortened snout, hooked fangs that protruded past her bottom jaw. A way to defend herself from the massive wolves to prowl the lands, perhaps.
Her eyes were what really surprised him. Set more forward instead of to the sides like the deer he once knew. The eyes of a predator, instead of prey.
Maybe those fangs were to hunt those wolves herself. He'd best keep his distance until he got a clear line of fire.
He felt bad for admitting it, but Jameson kind of…liked the way things were now. No sounds of traffic, no crowded streets, just the wind in the leaves and greenery overtaking what man had once claimed. Sure, they had to disinfect their water (multiple times most of the time) before it was safe to drink, but it was a small thing.
On the hunt, he was alone, but it wasn't really a bad thing. He got to see firsthand how the Earth had reclaimed what had always belonged to her. He could think, and ponder, without someone else's voice in his ear.
Being alone didn't always mean you were lonely, he thought. There was a reason he so rarely took Chase up on his offer to join a hunt with him.
Not that he had a problem with the other guys, of course. He loved them like family! But…they weren't exactly the type to just…listen, to the sounds around them. Besides maybe Isaac, but he didn't trust the guy enough yet to be alone with him.
His head snapped up to a snapping branch.
There she was. Looking at him. Fangs bared and muscles tensed to spring.
To the others, she would just be meat to feed them for a while and a pelt.
Jameson slowly lowered himself to kneel as he raised his rifle. The front filter on his mask forced him to position his head oddly—he was used to it, though.
Their eyes locked.
Looking down the barrel, he waited until…
She took a step: Now.
Bang.
One clean shot, and she was down.
He shouldered his rifle and jogged to her side, knelt there with a hand running through the course fur of her neck. She was big, but not the biggest deer he'd seen. He could just imagine her chasing down a wolf and taking it down easy.
She was food, cloth, tools.
Thank you, he thought.
He'd make sure nothing was wasted.
AN: I have a design finished for Apoc JJ! you can find it on blitzsdesignvault on Tumblr ^^