I stare at her whilst wondering how we got here. Tears well up in her eyes as the darkness of fear grips her soul. Soul? That's something for song and she's lost her voice. So, tears well up in her eyes as the darkness of fear grips her . That's good enough for me, really. She whimpers. Whimpering is good, it equates to submission, but it distracts them. They look at her, all doe eyed and meek, weapons dipping as uncertainty crashes into their minds. That's not good enough for any of us. I kick her in the face. She snaps back at my retreating foot, desperate for meat and blood, fangs bared, animal lust visible to all. She’s scared and hungry, then.
Doubts erased from their minds, they come to attention again. It's taken too long to track her, too long to lose her again simply because she looks scared . Human instinct does that to you, though: makes you doubt yourself, doubt your own conviction. You attribute human emotions to instinctive responses shown by other species when you don’t understand them. Even more so when you're unsure what that other species is. Obviously, she is scared - there are 4 of us surrounding her and it’s taken a beating to make her this docile. The question of what her instinctive response shows isn't about whether or not she's fearful of us, but what she'll do when that fear takes over.
The extension of claws is the first indication that we’re going to get an answer. The wagon is still a half dozen clicks out, so not only can we not bundle her into the back and stun her from safety, we also can’t get in there to save ourselves. Her lips begin to pull back from her teeth, and we all take a step back. Jill and Pete fire more tranqs into her, but we’d already established that didn’t work. The bloody remains of Daniel, 3 clicks east, is testament to that.
She shakes of what may a small bit of doziness from the drugs, and holds her smashed leg above the ground, possibly in pain but more just a reflex. She just knows that it’s not going to work, so doesn’t bother stumbling to find out. Maybe it’ll slow her down a bit. It slowed her down enough before for us to surround her.
I give the signal, Jill and Pete shoulder their tranquilizers and pull out handguns. Rob backs away slowly, pulling his assault rifle into his shoulder and aiming squarely at her head. I look at him, see his muscles tense and his attention focus on her legs, watching for the tension before the leap. Then I see movement behind him, and let out a sigh of relief. Followed by an expletive.
Nobody had thought to study them, yet. Nobody had thought to see if they traveled in packs. I called it in, re-affirmed my previous request for immediate and un-delayed extraction, reported that they do. I look through my scope, and start to get a bead.
That’s when she strikes.
Severing muscle and tendons, she tears through the rear of my right knee with her claws and I fall to the ground. Rob is already firing and missing because there’s nothing wrong with her leg at all. Pete wants to shoot but can’t because I’m too close and Jill’s panicking and trying to shoot but can’t because the safety is on. She pounces at Rob who’s busy reloading and removes his arm with one bit before slicing through the soft tissue of his neck and now Jill’s given up because the other two are here and her gun just won’t work, so she kneels and sobs into her arms. Pete’s shooting and hitting the mark but they’re too solid for our experimental rounds to penetrate. Next time – ha! – we’ll use explosive tips. He dies in a ball of fury, screaming and crying.
She comes to me, and I can’t move. The pain is too intense and I think I’m slowly bleeding to death. She looks at me, glances at Jill who is shaking and blind with terror as the others circle her, and then looks at me again. Straight in the eye. I sense a connection, a sorrow on her part, and then it goes. Only hardness remains, along with the hope of salvation. Jill screams for help, and I look to see her waving in the distance. It’s the wagon, and it’s too far away.
I look back at her and stare, knowing exactly how we got here.