Ch5: Hi. First of all, I uploaded ch4 proper so if you have not read it go do that now.
Now that that's taken care of we can move forward.
Raining-Stars04: I'm pleased I was able to write a story that can be viewed as "awesome" with only four chapters. Thanks for your review.
I also want to apologize for any mistakes in the previous chapter. I was in a bit of a hurry to get it up.
But are we all ready for a FIGHT SCENE? …because…well, there is one in this chapter. Sooooo…enjoy.
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Johnny walked over to where the third passenger had fallen. He shook his head a little, "What a mess." he muttered to himself, then he added more loudly "And you can get up now." He shifted his attention to the…'thing' (for lack of a better term) that he had impaled with his knife. As he watched the little creature wiggle and squirm on the ground he heard the third passenger get up to his feet, grumbling something that sounded vaguely obscene. "Why'd you fall over like that anyway?" he asked.
"WHY? You just threw a knife at my head!" he said indignantly. The nerve of this guy, he thought crossly. Where does he get off acting so casual about almost killing me?
"Did not." Johnny replied playfully, but after seeing the less-than-amused glare from the third passenger, he clarified, "I threw my knife at the thing that was going to bite your head off." As he spoke he pointed to the small animal on the ground.
He looked down to where Johnny had pointed and saw the creature he was talking about. It was small, maybe twelve or thirteen inches, and had large, overlapping scales that seemed to bristle outward all over the top of its body from its head all the way down its long tail. It might have looked cute if not for the large, sharp claws at the end of its front two feet. Though it may have been more apt to call them arms since it also had two more sets of legs after the first that lacked the claws. Its mouth, too, was something that looked quite fearsome, with two large, fang-like teeth coming up from its jaw. And to cap it all off it was also emitting an intensely foul odor.
As he looked down at the strange little beast the third passenger spoke; "I guess I should thank you then. I just wish you had given me some warning."
"Well, everything turned out fine anyway, so it's no big deal. I couldn't just let my new friend get mauled like that after all." Johnny said in a very casual manner.
The third passenger felt a little uncomfortable with that statement, but before he could comment on it the creature on the ground interrupted his train of thought. It began shrieking and squealing at an ear-splittingly high pitch as it continued to writhe on the ground. He had to press his hands against his ears to try and protect them from the auditory assault.
Johnny seemed to be mildly annoyed by this as well, since his first action was to quickly move closer to the animal and crush its head underneath his boot, effectively silencing it. "Well that was interesting," he said as he bent down to retrieve his knife from the, now deceased, varmint.
"Indeed. I wonder what it was doing that for. Was it crying in pain?" the third passenger asked as he continued to examined the creature.
"I don't think so." Johnny answered as he cleaned his knife with a rag he had gotten out of his pocket. "No, if it was doing that because it was in pain, you would think it would have been doing that right from when I stabbed it." Suddenly, as he paused for a moment in his ponderings, a similar shrieking sound was heard from off in the distance. "If I had to guess, I would say this little guy was calling his friends." After the first, several other shrikes came out of the same general direction. "And from the sound of it, he had a lot of friends."
The third passenger could not help but find it strange how casual Johnny was treating the potentially dangerous situation. "That could be a problem." he said in a much more grim fashion.
"Nah, I'm sure it won't be a problem." Johnny replied as he removed his jacket and hung it on a low branch of one of the trees in the clearing. As the blaring sounds of the approaching animals grew louder he pulled a few things out of one of his coats pockets and threw them to the third passenger. Once he had caught them he realized it was a pistol and a few magazines. "You know how to use one of those?" Johnny asked as he pulled the sleeves of his shirt up: continuing his preparation for the quickly approaching struggle with the fearsome creatures that were drawing closer with each passing moment.
The third passenger looked down at the object in his hand with a little concern. "I have experience using what you might call 'non-lethal' weapons, but I'm not sure if those skills will carry over to a conventional firearm…" he said in a less-than-confident tone, looking down at the gun; carefully loading a magazine into the deadly weapon he held daintily in his hand.
"Do you know which end the bullets come out of?" Johnny asked. He received a small nod from the third passenger, but when he saw he was going to add something else, Johnny asked, "Do you know how to fire it?" When he received another nod he continued, "Then I'm sure you'll be fine." finishing with a, surprisingly reassuring, smile.
Then, all of a sudden, the screeching that had been echoing around them was replaced by a rustling sound and something that resembled a low growl. Along with these new sounds came an almost overpowering stench. A few tense moments passed; the sounds and smells causing the third passenger's nerves to tighten dangerously; threatening to snap at any moment. They both waited expectantly for the creatures to show themselves; the third passenger holding his gun in both hands tightly with eyes darting around quickly; while Johnny stood very still and unconcernedly drummed his fingers on the blade of his knife.
Finally, the creatures broke through the long grass. After the lead animal jumped out several others followed and the two got to look at them. They looked very similar to the one who they had already killed. The most prominent difference was that they were larger; about the same height and length of a medium sized dog. After the lead beast (which was also the biggest and most savage looking) had looked at the two potential meals before it, it gave a high squeal and the entire group surged back into movement.
The third passenger raised his weapon to try and fire at them, but Johnny stopped him before he could. "Don't start just yet," as he spoke the creatures began running in a circle around them, "they're trying to keep us from escaping. Wait until they come at us, then start shooting." Without warning, three of the fiends left the circle and charged toward them. The third passenger began firing at them, but, even though he proved to be quite accurate with his gun, it seemed to be underpowered, as it took several shots to put one of them down. As it closed the distance between its self and Johnny one of them lunged at his legs while the other remaining one jumping up and attacking high. Seeing this, Johnny kicked the lower one with enough force to send it skidding backward. Almost immediately after that he swung his knife and practically cleaved the other animal in half. Seeing that three of their comrades were dead, five of the beasts came at them. This time two split off to attack the third passenger and the other three attacked Johnny.
As the two charged at him, the third passenger began firing once again, but, unfortunately, was also only able to kill one of them just as before. So the second one, having not been riddled full of holes, jumped up and bared its long fangs in anticipation of biting into the third passenger's neck. He managed to avoid this fate, however, by falling backward and letting the beast sail over him while also pumping a few rounds into its soft underbelly.
Johnny ended up having a somewhat rougher time. One of the little monsters tried to bite his legs, but Johnny avoided that by stepping on it. This brief lapse in concentration allowed the second beast to strike at his midsection. It jumped up and dug its long claws into his side. He grit his teeth at the sudden surge of pain. In response to this, Johnny flipped his knife around and plunged it into the beast on his side (being careful not to stab himself as well).
The third beast had silently worked his way around Johnny as he fought with the other animals, seeking to attack him from behind. It slowly crept around to his blindside; crouching down it primed itself for the attack. Launching forward it quickly came within striking distance. Jumping up, claws and teeth ready to sink into the unaware pray before it, it flew through the air and was about to succeed in its sneak attack. Just before it reached Johnny's back, however, a bullet bored it's way through the beast's head.
Feeling something heavy crash into his back, then fall to the ground, Johnny spun around on his heels, only to find a creature at his feet. He looked over and saw that the third passenger had recovered just in time to help him out. Johnny's smirk widened. "Nice shot, friend." he said, even though it was pretty obvious by the look on the third passenger's face that there was little skill involved.
There was no time to celebrate yet, since there were still four of the creatures remaining. The large alpha-male and two others rushed at Johnny while the last beast bolted toward the third passenger.
In response to this the third passenger took aim at the little monster. But, to his dismay, when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened except for a feeble "click" being released. He realized the magazine he had been using was out. He began hastily feeling for the other magazine that he had slipped into the belt of his uniform while still watching the lone beast barreling toward him. After not finding it he was forced to look around on the ground for it. It must have dropped out of my belt when I was knocked on my back, he thought, as he grew more and more panicked. Once he looked around the same area he had been knocked over in he saw the magazine lying in the dirt.
Before he could attempt to grab it he was roughly knocked to the ground. He felt the weight of an animal on his back and heard the shrill cries coming from it as it started to claw at his back and he started to panic. He began thrashing on the ground to try and throw the creature off him.
The three beasts barreled toward Johnny; the first two going for his legs and the alpha male not far behind them. He realized he wasn't going to get out of this unscathed. I guess I'll just have to give out more than what I get, he thought. As one finally lunged at his left leg he reacted by stepping on it, several loud cracks and crunching noises coming from the creature's body under his boot. This success was quickly followed by the other beast biting into his right leg, causing him to drop to his knees. It was this moment that the alpha male chose to attack. Charging forward with intent to rip out his throat it leapt up at him. Reacting as quickly as he could, Johnny reached out and grabbed the animal by the neck and held it away from himself. As he was forced to focus on the alpha male the creature that had bitten his leg now clawed its way up Johnny's chest, tearing large gashes into his torso as it went.
The third passenger tried to drag himself over to the magazine, but soon found it was too difficult with the monster currently trying to bite his head off. As its jaws snapped just inches away from his face the third passenger shoved the barrel of his gun into the maw of the creature. As it struggled to get the offending object out of its mouth the third passenger felt around with his free hand and came upon a sizeable rock. Gripping it tightly, he picked it up and bashed the animal's head with it, sending it tumbling off him. Once he was out from under the beast he scrambled over to the magazine and snatched it off the ground. Glancing behind him he saw that the animal was quickly recovering and was about to give chase. As his sense of panic began to intensify the third passenger expeditiously shoved the magazine into the gun and pulled the slide back to load in the first round. He raised the gun up in front of him and fired just as the beast came within a few inches of where he was kneeling.
The third passenger sat on the ground, panting heavily from so much exertion. That was…brutal, he thought as he tried to catch his breath, but as he rested he heard the sound of a struggle still going on to his left. He looked that way and was startled to find Johnny grappling with the last two beasts. He stood up to go over and help him but he was halted by the scene before him.
He was stunned, watching Johnny rip the animal clinging to his chest with a loud grunt and flung it aside. The third passenger regained enough of his wits to fire a few rounds at the creature before it could recover. He then slowly approached as he watched Johnny stare at the alpha male he held firmly in his grasp, even as it clawed at his arm in a desperate attempt to escape. Gazing on in amazement he heard Johnny release a noise from behind his clenched teeth that was akin to growl from some wild beast. As he growled, his fingers began to tighten around the neck of the creature and soon the flesh beneath began to give way, even as the razor-sharp scales dug into him. As he slowly squeezed the life out of the vermin there seemed to almost be a red haze around him, obscuring the third passenger's vision of Johnny head, but he could still make out the slightest of smiles. Soon, with a loud crack, the animal ceased its struggle and fell limp. Johnny realized his grip and it fell to the ground in a heap.
For a moment there was silence, neither Johnny nor the third passenger moving for an undeterminable amount of time. Then Johnny seemed to slump forward slightly, then fell backwards onto his back.
When the third passenger saw this he rushed over with a renewed sense of urgency. As arrived at where Johnny had fallen he kneeled down next to him. "Hey, Johnny are you uh…are you going to be alright?" he asked. It seemed like a stupid question. He knew how the human body worked and Johnny's was in very bad shape. The alpha male, for starters, had basically torn his arm, to shreds, but that was the least of his problems. As the other creature had crawled up his chest it had left several lacerations in its path, most of which were bleeding profusely.
Johnny tried to get a look at himself them let his head fall back against the dirt. "No, I don't think this…this will end well." His breathing was labored and his voice was softer than it had been before. "But listen…" he said as he grabbed the third passengers arm with surprising firmness. "…Look, I won't last muck longer but…" he was stopped by a spasm of violent coughing. "…J-just don't…d-don't…" The look on his face showed the enormous pain he was in, and how desperate he was to get his message across.
"What? What is it? What shouldn't I do?" The third passenger tried to encourage the information out of him, but couldn't do anything. He watched as his eyes lost focus and his grip loosened on his arm. As much as Johnny struggled he couldn't get his failing body to cooperate any further. Finally, all the life left Johnny eyes and his hand fell onto the ground. Chest no longer rising or falling, body completely stationary, eyes no longer blinking, mouth no lounger gasping.
He was dead. And the third passenger was alone.
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Finished! You know, I was kinda depressed by how long it took me to complete this, admittedly mediocre, chapter (like more than three months), but now that it is done, I'm just glad!
Still, there are no words to describe this level of failure, and I will do better in the future.
So go ahead and tell me how disappointed you all are (that is assuming anyone is even still aware of this stories existence).