His vocals rumbled tenderly against his throat, he was perched on the corner of a billboard whose lights had died long ago. He was keeping watch on his prey, a stupid survivor who thought it was smart to travel through the city alone.
But maybe, it wasn't stupid after all. Maybe it had friends hiding from the Infected eyes so when the lone survivor got attacked, they'd be saved instantly when its companions sprayed the Infected down.
The Hunter scoffed to himself, he highly doubt such a plan was set up, he's seen too many survivors, few and a crowd, that was devoured to death due to poor teamwork. He decided to prove his point with this walking snack.
He crouched lower, physically gathering his energy, in a split second he descended down to the oblivious survivor. Like his previous prey, it caught on his attack too late. It quickly twisted its body to the hostile Hunter, only getting two shots from its firearm before it crashed onto impact. The gun skid from the survivor's hands, the Hunter snarled at his prey's sweaty face before tearing the clothing and skin covering the survivor's insides. His prey squirmed, screamed bloody murder as it breathed its last seconds of life.
Soon enough, it became a torn up, lifeless piece of human beneath the Hunter. The predator smirked, content with his kill and the fact there was no trap set up for him. He satisfied his growling stomach as he devoured the parts of the body that weren't already shredded. Ripping a section of the human's intestines with his mouth and hands, the Hunter chewed thoughtfully as he swallowed his last bit, crawling away from the mess of a corpse on the street. There was nothing much left on the human anyway, and his stomach was already full.
Before he could take a big leap off the ground, his eyes caught the survivor's gun. He picked up the firearm to inspect it, a surprising sight to see since the Hunter unloaded the clip to see how many bullets remained in the hand gun. The Hunter nodded to himself, stuffing the handgun in his pocket before soaring through the air again.
Unlike the majority of Hunters or Specials alike, this Hunter knew how to use firearms. It was a rare case, only a small handful of Specials recall how to operate such a machine let alone open doors.
Back to reality, the blood stained Hunter made his way back to his shelter. It wasn't like a house or anything, it was an abandoned apartment on top of a looted and abandoned dollar store. Thanks to the remaining items held in the store, it helped the Hunter make a luxury shelter that didn't look half as bad as the other households the small town held.
He climbed through the one of the broken windows when his home came into sight. He picked the handgun from his pocket to place it on a scratched and scarred desk sitting against one of the walls in the room. The firearm sat next to the other three guns the Hunter decided to gather from his past victims, you never know when your brute Infected strength might not be enough.
The Hunter collapsed on his makeshift bed, torn blankets and damaged pillows littered his resting spot as he nuzzled into the musty comfort. He was about to doze off when something caught his senses. He looked up, not liking the smell of this.
Crawling silently as he could, the Hunter made his way one of the windows, observing the outside to see what was out of place. He found it, something ran into the grocery store below. He growled angrily, was it human? He was about to find out.
/]/]/]
Sure, great idea. Let the weak link of the trio go out and gather food and what not for the group. Austin groaned to himself as he entered the mini grocery store in front of him, still mumbling cusses to Liz and Katie who talked him into going out alone. Sure, he was the only one who knew the layout of this town, but that didn't mean he should go scavenge for the group alone.
Avoiding some groaning Commons as he slipped by, Austin searching high and low for anything edible or sorts of comfort when the group decided to snooze in. Thinking about it more, Austin kind of understood why Liz had to stick with Katie till he returned.
Ever since they found her, she continuously cried and couldn't bare to be alone. Hell, she seemed even more fragile than before. This worried Austin, wondering what would happen if something ugly were to happen causing them to be split apart again, would Katie be able to handle herself? Shaking his head and focusing on on his search, Austin went back to his goal findings and picked anything that was worthwhile into the bag he found and carried for supplies.
He found a couple of canned drinks and a few food items. He didn't complain, he was lucky enough to find anything in this looted store. He just wished there was some meat products left. "Oh wow, jackpot…" he mumbled, finding a bag of Hershey's Chocolate bars in a corpse's backpack lying next to it. "I'm sure they'll enjoy this…" the Jockey said to himself, stuffing the chocolate into the bag without another thought.
He was about to search the store one more time but a growl caught his ears. He felt a prickle up his spine, the Jockey turned around to see a Hunter crouched on all fours, teeth dripping with saliva and blood. The two remained still for a few seconds, despite the constant twitching Austin couldn't control. He switched his gaze to the exit and the Hunter, unsure if he could make it out without a few scars and bite wounds to prove it.
Okay, settle down Austin. Maybe you can talk your way out? The Jockey mentally smacked himself, he really should've looked harder before he decided to scavenge in a Hunter's territory. Though, he really wasn't at fault, it's not like there was a sign saying "KEEP OUT" or anything like that.
Deciding to break the ice, Austin nervously chuckled at the predator, "Hi?"
The Hunter screamed in response, lunging itself at Austin with claws ready to kill. The Jockey shrieked, dodging the attack and immediately headed for the exit. Once he was outside the store, he hoped the Hunter would let him be without any blood lust in its desire. But no, the Hunter didn't let up. It pounced and chased the hunched over Infected like a cougar chasing its fleeing food.
"GEEZUS! I'M SORRY I B&E, MAN! OH GOD, LET ME LIIIIIIIIVE!" Austin screamed, running as fast as his legs could carry him.
/]/]/]
Liz hacked up another slime ball, spitting it as far as she could to a distant target from where she stood. It didn't make it, it plopped onto the dead grassy ground and split a large pool of acid around it. "Damn, my range really sucks…" she sighed, glaring at the distant car that was her supposed target. She turned back to the garage shack her and the others decided to sleep in for the night.
Inside there were a bunch of tools, some still hanging from their holders while others were scattered messily on the ground. There was a small area where blankets and worn down pillows laid, possibly for the family's pet to sleep on or something. Liz maneuvered over the sharp objects and toppled over tables and tool boxes to reach Katie, who sitting on the blanket and pillow bed weeping as usual.
The Spitter knelt down and patted her shoulder, making the Witch hiccup when looking up at Liz. "It's alright Katie, it'll be fine! Austin will be back shortly, you have nothing to cry about." Katie sniffled before turning her head back to the dusty blankets beneath her, wiping her face with her red stained hands before softly crying. Liz sighed, trying not to sound irritated the least bit. She loved Katie, as much as a friend could, but her crying wasn't helping anything at all. Even when questioned, the sad Witch couldn't let up with the tears, it was like that was the only thing she could do.
After what Katie had told Liz and Austin what she had to her parents, Liz couldn't blame her for crying at all. But for so long? There was a limit to the tear shed in Liz's book. The Spitter ruffled the Witch's hair, causing the paler to whine cutely before Liz rose from her crouch. A distant scream caught the two's attention, causing the both of them to exit the garage and see what caused that noise.
Soon enough, a sprinting Jockey came into sight. He screamed as he jumped to the side, dodging a deadly swipe of talons belonging to a stranger Hunter. It could be read by its body actions that all it was thinking was ".KILL."
"Liz! Katie! HELP MEEEE!" Austin hollered, jumping on top of a bus waiting shed, successfully dodging another blow from the pissed off Hunter. "Katie, stay here!" Liz ordered, receiving a quick nod from the Witch as Liz tried her best to not wobble as she ran towards the two. "BACK OFF ASSHOLE!" she yelled, gathering up all the strength she had to ram a punch into the Hunter's jaw.
The Hunter was caught off guard, too focused on the Jockey to realize the Spitter's attack. He snarled viciously at the Spitter, attempting to hack her innards out instantly. Liz yelped as she dodged his attacks, finding the opportunity to spit an acid chunk at the Hunter, hitting him directly on the collar bone. The Hunter was drenched in the Spitter's acid, sadly not showing any signs of pain but more fury in his snarls.
Liz stared dumbfounded at the unaffected Hunter, if she still had a jaw it'd drop to the ground in complete shock. Her acid had no affect on zombies! She was too late to react when the Hunter pounced onto her, his teeth instantly sinking into her shoulder making blood spew across his fangs. Liz shrieked in pain, kicking and squirming to pry the Hunter off.
Before the Hunter could bring his claws up for slaughter, Austin jumped onto his back and wrenched him off the Spitter. Liz hissed and held her fresh wound as she brought herself up to her feet, seeing Austin ride the very pissed off Hunter. The angry Infected managed to grab hold of Austin, ripping him off his back as he twisted the Jockey's arm in an unpleasant way in the process.
Austin wailed, crashing down onto the sidewalk, he held his hurt arm as he recovered. The Hunter looked to pounce again, but his actions were cut off by a nails-on-chalkboard scream. He turned to the owner of the sound, dodging a deadly attack from Katie as her nails impaled the street when the Hunter dodged. He landed a few yards away, keeping his position still as the Witch furiously growled and raised her talons, ready for a kill.
Liz looked wide eyed at the Witch, surprised that Katie had the will to go against a Hunter of all Infected. Well, there was also those bulky Infected called Tanks the three came across once, but they all knew it'd be best to run than rather fight those steroid gorillas.
"Why are you doing this! What have we done to you, you big fat jerk!" Katie wailed, brows furrowed together as she stretched and clicked her sharp nails together, ready for an attack to play. If not for their wounds throbbing in pain, the Spitter and Jockey would've chuckled at the Witch's 'insult'.
The Hunter flared his nostrils as he slightly eased his stance, knowing well a fight with a Witch would be his last one. "That ugly hunched bastard stepped into my territory. I'm just giving him the lesson he deserves to even think about repeating the action."
Katie almost hissed at the Hunter, not feeling the anger boiling in her chest ease down, "Well did you have sign or something saying so? You're trying to kill him, not punish!"
Katie lost herself for an instant when she charged at the Hunter, trying to impale his body with her nails. The Hunter dodged, landing on the waiting shed a few yards off, "Hot tempered, aren't ya? Listen babe, ugly shits like your friends there don't exactly register my warnings often. I'm surprised you're even friends with that long necked bitch and head humper."
The Witch screamed in fury, "You shut it! What gives you the right to judge other Infected by their looks! What right do you have to act like they're a lower class than you!" She was caught off guard when the Hunter pounced onto her, taking the opportunity to hold the dangerous girl down by his will. "You got a big mouth, it'd be a shame to see it torn off by my hand. But if you want me to apologize to your so-called friends, fine." The Hunter removed himself off the Witch, taking a leap to land in front of the Jockey who yelped at the sudden approach.
"So sorry I tried to kill you, man. Just stay off my turf when you decide to scavenge." His sarcasm was sickening. The Hunter turned to the dirty blonde Spitter, who was keeping an uneasy look stuck on her face when locking sight with the Hunter. "And lady, stay out of a fight that isn't yours. I won't be sorry next time you decide to butt in." The Hunter crawled away from the two Infected, turning his head to the Witch who regained her posture, "Happy now?"
Katie pouted, hating it when someone faked an apology. "Not really." The Hunter shook his head, looking to take off. "Wait!" Liz called out, causing the Hunter to turn to her.
"Have….have you seen our friends? One's got a hoodie with Medusa eyes on the hood, has duct taped limbs like you. Other is wearing a winter vest, a Gir shirt underneath it? Short brown hair, tall?" The Spitter questioned.
The Hunter dropped his gaze to the ground, looking to be thinking for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope, can't recall anyone like that I've killed or seen before. But if you give that much of damn and want to continue bugging me. I'll give you a shout if I come across your friends."
Katie walked a little closer to the Hunter, seeing him wipe the semi-dried blood on his camouflage sweater, "Th…Thank you…my name's Katie, that's Liz and Austin," the Witch softly spoke, gesturing her talons to the two Infected to the side.
The Hunter glanced at the two before looking back at the Witch, "Joshua," he replied. Katie forced a smile nodding a bit before speaking, "Should we…um, visit you if we want to know-"
Her sentence got caught off by the Hunter.
"I'll come to you if I have anything to tell about your friends, Witch. The last thing I need is other Infected poking around on my territory thinking that it'll end smoothly." Joshua crawled away from the trio, ready to take off again.
"But we might not stick around here for long, we'll probably be continuously moving," Austin shouted, making Joshua twitch in annoyance before replying, "I have a keen sense of smell, dumbass. I'm pretty sure I can pick out your revolting smell from the other brainless fucks around here."
With that, the Hunter leapt away, pouncing against a few building walls till he disappeared from sight.
"He must have been a thrill to have in class," Liz scowled, narrowing her eyes to where the Hunter was last seen. "I'm sure he's nice, we just got on the wrong foot…" Katie insisted, walking over to the Spitter and Jockey. "Wrong foot my ass! The dude tried to kill me!" Austin shouted, tenderly gripping his arm that started to hurt less.
Katie shrugged, bending down to the hurt Jockey while Liz tore a piece of his shirt off to wrap it around her hurt shoulder. "Let's forget about that, Austin. Does it still hurt? What did you find during your scavenge?"
:IMPORTANT:
Yaaaay, 2nd guest infected checked :D Poor Austin and Liz...
But, a note I should make to you dear reader. If you have requested a character, please note on how I will work with them. If they're mentioned for a short bit in the chapter, chances are they will show up in future chapters again. If they get a big chunk of a chapter to themselves, they'll most likely not reappear in chapters gone by. Unless you request that they are mentioned every now and then for later chapters, I will add them and fairly give them some screentime. If not noted, they might only appear once or twice in the entire story.
/info
:OCs are still open:
Review?