He Was Dying

Chapter Seven

  I ended up going hunting. There was enough space in the yard for there to be crows, possibly foxes or deer. Hunting was one of my favourite pastimes. It helped me clear my mind easily, and it was one of the main ways I exercised and ate.

Sometimes rabbits show up in the area, but I just let the foxes go after them. It never felt right eating one of those little fuzzy guys.

  The feeling of adrenaline pumping through my viens, the rush of wind against my face. The excitement when you dig your teeth into the warm flesh of prey, the blood dribbling against your lips and down your throat.

My senses twitched uncomfortably. What would human flesh taste like?  I thought.

  I shook my head. No. Dumbest thing I've ever said.

Feet thundering against the dry soil, I leaped over objects as I patrolled my territory for food. Skidding to a stop, I shot down, ears up. My back straight and my legs stretched, I shuffled towards a small murder of crows. I licked my teeth, and bound forward.

  The birds squawked in alarm, and some flew off just in time. I pinned two under one of my paws, yanking one from the sky in my mouth as it nearly fled. A crow came for vengeance, landing on my head and violently pecking. I spat out the bird, lifted my paw off the two injured.

I swiped at the crow, who dodged my attack and continued its worthless picking. I bounced about, the clever bird not getting off my skull. Smacking it with an ear, it cawed once and flew off.

   I scoffed and scooped the three dying birds in my paws. They died from injuries soon enough and I placed the corpses on a wooden pallet. Without hesitation, I sank my teeth into one of the feathered creatures. Bones crunched under the pressure of my jaws and flesh ripped.

Once devouring the three animals, I licked blood from my face and spat out pitch black feathers. Probably should have plucked or skinned it in advance, but oh well.

  Standing, a yawn rumbled my throat. I looked up at the orange-turning sky. It was almost morning.

It was almost morning.

I panicked. My first thought was to run, but where? I couldn't escape my yard. As if I'd go to a human civilization to hide. That'd so work.

  I remembered what the Others had always said.
"Kill them by daylight."

"All four humans must be dead by daylight."

"In the morning, there must be no survivors."

   Oh, God.

I bounded towards the cabin, praying that they were still there. Leaping upstairs, I saw the four of them leaning on the porch railing. My chest heaved as I hissed to get their attention.

  They turned in surprise, and looked at me in confusion. "What's wrong?" Delirious said, adjusting the sleeve of his hoodie.

Without a sound, I stomped over to beside Bryce and pointed directly in front of us. A huge dull blue gate towered into the sky, rust and paint chipping off the metal.
  "The door?" Luke asked curiously.

On the ground a little ways away was an engine generator, and I pointed at that as well. Holding up five fingers, they began to understand.

  "Five generators open the door, guys," Bryce said beside me.

"Why five? How many do we have?" Evan questioned, looking at me for a brief second.

"I dunno why five, but I think we have two or three generators done," he informed them.

   Luke clapped his hands. "Then let's get to work!"

He, Delirious and Evan cheered and marched downstairs to go repair. Bryce remained beside me, a frown pasted on his face. He glanced up at me. "You're letting us go?"

  I took in a deep breath and nodded hesitantly. "Why? After all that, why just let us leave?"
I froze. I can't tell him. Literally, I can't. I don't know how to speak human, at least not well.

  Words rumbled in my throat, and I opened my mouth to speak. My voice came out scratchy and the words sounded a bit off.
  "Don't want you to hurt." That didn't seem proper, but I had assumed he understood.

"You don't want us to get hurt?" I nodded.

He looked down, twiddling his thumbs. "That stuff you did earlier, you didn't mean to do, did you?" I slowly shook my head, ashamed of myself. "But you wouldn't hurt us again, would you?"

I blinked. "Not I." Damn, I talked stupidly. "Them."

- - -

  I've been pacing the yard walls for the past hour or so. It has taken a while for them to fix the rest of their needed machines. I didn't want to get in their way or scare them whilst they worked, so I remained on the sidelines, silently cheering them on.

   A flash of light intruded the sky. They only had one more.

I dragged my fingers along the crumbling brick of the wall. Suddenly footsteps raced towards me, and stopped before being able to approach me. I then noticed a generator to my left.

  Walking towards it, I heard encouragement being spoken.

"C'mon, we can do this, guys."

   "We'll get back home, I promise."

"Your promises are bull, Evan," Delirious laughed.

  "Shut up."

Sparks rebounded off Luke's red hoodie and he leaped back, guarding his face with his arms.
  "Seriously, man?" Bryce groaned.

"Hey!" Luke retaliated. "This stuff's difficult!"

   I snuffed and that apparently caught Luke's attention. He sent a smile my way, and I smiled in reply. Approaching them, Evan looked over the machine at me. "Hey there."

Bryce glanced up at me, and Delirious gave me a polite grin. "How come you're letting us fix the generators?" Luke asked, not looking up from his work. "Those other killers didn't want us to."

   Delirious snickered. "Yeah. You're just letting us escape! Even Evan! All the other ones wanted his booty the most." Evan glares at him, but there's a glint of truth in his eyes.

  I looked at Bryce, who was working below me to my right. He gave me a nervous smile. I cleared my throat.
"Oh, right, I don't think he c-" Evan began.

But I interrupted him. "They want to kill you."

  Electricity jumped from the machine on Delirious' side and dove backwards in shock. "What?"
   "Well, of course they do," Luke said. "They're monsters."

My ears twitched in annoyance at him, and Bryce spoke up for me. "He's sort of a monster, but he hasn't truly tried to kill us."

  "He kinda has, but alright.."