"I didn't know you could wrestle alligators," Louis said as he helped pull Francis from the water.
"I don't," Francis said, "I hate alligator wrestling." Rochelle helped him to his feet.
"You gonna be alright?" she asked.
"Yeah," Francis answered, "I'll be okay. I just need to rest a minute." He leaned against a moss-covered tree. The rain had stopped, but the swamp remained flooded.
"How'd you fend that thing off?" asked Nick. Francis held out the jackknife. It was still covered in the alligator's blood.
"What the hell?" said Nick, "Where'd you get that?" Francis shrugged.
"I guess I always had it. Must of forgot about it 'cause I don't really use it. Here, I can sharpen your sticks if you want." Nick handed him his makeshift weapon. Rochelle watched as Francis carved the end into a point.
"Thank," she said. Francis shrugged once again.
"Whatever," he responded.
"You guys still remember which way that thing went?" asked Coach.
"No way I could forget," said Ellis as he pointed his finger south.
The Rougarou was on the hunt. It was determined to appease its master, and that meant killing all the humans it could. It ran with the speed of a fox through the thick underbrush of the swamp. All sorts of smells wafted into its nose. The scent of rodents and other animals tempted it to go hunting. But it knew the punishment for failure, and so was not about to abandon the task at hand. It was only a short period of time before it picked up the smell of the humans. A few minutes after that, it could hear them. The creature slowed down and slunk low in the shrubs. They were coming towards it. All it would have to do is wait.
Nick held his stick out in front of him the way he imagined a cave man would have during a hunt. He was very afraid, but like everyone else he did not show it. As he looked out over the stinking bogs he felt a sort of emotion he was unused to feeling. It was a sort of respect for nature. This place, this foul-smelling wetland, was a sort of window to another world that had been lost to the ages. From the time when small creatures first crawled out of the primordial ooze to seek out a new life on land. It was an ancient and mysterious place, feared and coveted at the same time. Nick's thoughts were interrupted as Coach spoke.
"Sh!" he said. Everyone froze and looked at him. He was pointing to a large cluster of thorny bushes. At first everyone failed to see what he saw. But then the bushes moved slightly. Had anyone else seen it they would have dismissed it as just another animal. But the survivors had been through too much to take any chances. They stood still, not moving a muscle.
The Rougarou tensed up as the humans stopped moving. They were looking directly at him. He was sure they couldn't see him, but somehow they knew he was there. His mind raced to think of a way to deal with the situation. If he tried to retreat, he'd have to explain to his master what had happened. That would not be pleasant. In the end, he decided that attacking them would be the best option. They knew he was there, but so what? He was fast and strong, and he could probably beat them.
A moment of silence seemed to hang over the survivors. The natural noises of the swamp fell quiet as they waited for whatever was going to charge out of the bushes. They could hear their hearts beating. Suddenly, the bushes exploded in a flurry of torn clothing and rusty-red fur.
"Rougarou!" shouted Coach. The howling creature bounded through the water up to the survivors. They held out their sticks menacingly. The Rougarou jumped into the small cluster they had formed and pounced on Louis. The office worker fought back, holding the snarling creature off with his stick. The other survivors jabbed their weapons into the back of the Rougarou. The creature let out a yelp of pain, but suddenly whipped around and lashed its claws out at Nick. They tore through his jacket and cut into his skin. Nick cried out as he fell over in pain. His friends retaliated fiercely, but the Rougarou managed to yank Coach's spear out of his hands. The canine-like beast snapped it in two and threw the halves away. It kicked with its back leg and sent the former athlete tumbling into the water. Francis leapt at the canine creature, but it managed to throw a punch into his face. The Rougarou kicked the dazed man on top of Louis, who was scrambling to get up. Rochelle gave a cry of fury as she thrust her stick at the creature. It grabbed the other end, and the two began a fierce battle for the makeshift spear. Suddenly the creature pulled the stick over its head, throwing Rochelle on the ground behind him. It turned around to face her, but suddenly felt a stick press against its throat. Ellis stood behind it, trying to hold it back with his spear. The creature snarled and fought against him, but everyone knew it would break free in a matter of seconds. It suddenly pulled itself out of Ellis's grip. It turned to face him and gave a terrifying snarl. Ellis thrust his spear at the beast, but it stepped out of the way and raked its claws across his arm. Ignoring the pain, Ellis swung his spear sideways and knocked the Rougarou off its feet. He jabbed his spear to the ground, but the fox-creature rolled out of the way at the last second. It leapt back to its feet and jumped on Ellis's back. He cried out in alarm as it dug its nails into his shoulders, forcing him to the ground. It tried snapping its jaws at the mechanic, but Ellis put up too much of fight. He refused to remain still. The Rougarou was suddenly forced off as Ellis rolled over. It was back on its feet as Ellis crawled for his spear, which was only a few feet away. It snarled as it pounced at him. Too late. The creature's glowing green eyes widened as Ellis held the spear upwards. The Rougarou screamed as it fell upon the sharpened point, impaling itself completely. The creature slumped over as it died. Ellis let go of the stick, and the corpse dropped into the water. He gasped for air as he stood up. Fighting in this humidity was exhausting. By now everyone was getting to their feet. Although the fight seemed like it was an hour long, it was actually only a few minutes.
"Whoa," said Francis as he gingerly rubbed his jaw, "They teach you how to fight like that down here?"
"Naw," responded Ellis, "Me and Keith learned that the time we went to went on this road trip to Ohio, and there was this ninja convention or somethin', and Keith was all like-"
"Never mind," Francis said as he looked at everybody to see if they were okay. "We're gonna need more sticks."
Bokor Renard gave a savage screech of pain and anger as he clutched his chest. Zoey smiled and felt slightly relieved. His reaction must of meant his assassin had failed. Renard's head swiveled to look at Zoey. He caught a fleeting glimpse of her smile as it disappeared from her face.
"You think they're beating me, don't you?" His voice was eerily calm, although his green eyes blazed with rage. He stomped over to her, his cane clunking noisily against the floor. "Listen here, girl. You ain't seen nothin' yet. All this means is I'll have to deal with 'em myself." His near-fleshless face seemed to sneer. "Don't believe me? Watch this." Zoey watched fearfully as he held his cane like a scepter. An breeze entered the shack, and the little green glass eyes on the serpent-like cane glowed. It was suddenly no longer inanimate. The head opened its mouth and hissed viciously, exposing long, needle-like fangs. Renard sliced it through the air, and there was a sudden noise like nails being dragged across a chalkboard. Zoey watched in awe as a small hole appeared in the air. Through the hole was a bright purplish light, and in the light were dozens of shadows. Although no explanation was given, Zoey knew what this was. Suddenly the hole snapped shut. Bokor Renard laughed wickedly.
"The spirit world is just fulla people who wanna come back," he said, "They'll do anything', hurt anyone to get here. All it takes is a little wave of my cane, and I can bring 'em here or send 'em back. Of course they can't do much there, but they don't know that. I just use 'em for affect." He started for the door. As he opened and walked through, he turned and called back to Zoey. "It won't be long now 'til your friends arrive. I'll just stand out here and wait for 'em."
Zoey sat alone in the shack, staring at the wall. All she could think about was how much she wanted to get out of her. Outside she heard the horde of infected mulling about. But then she heard another noise. It was a quiet sound of faint footsteps. She looked around the dim shack. The steps stopped. Zoey shook her head. She hadn't had much to drink today. Maybe it was getting to her. As she once again lost her self in looking at the wall, the steps started up again. She didn't move. She felt a sense of coldness come over her. As she breathed she began to see her breath. Her heart began to race. She had heard about these kinds of experiences, and knew exactly what this was. A scent of tobacco came wafting in Zoey's nose. It was not the pungent stench of Renard's cigar, but smelled more like cigarettes. She could only watch in silence as some invisible thing slowly made a series of scratches on the wall. They were crude and crooked, as one might expect from a child first learning how to write. Zoey's eyes widened as she saw the first letter. B… The scratches moved on to the next letter. It was a single line going downwards. I… The next two letters were identical. L…L…