The Hunting Grounds

Chapter six

     Alexander stared at the ceiling. It was early morning, so it was still dark and shadows filled every corner of the bedroom. He had come to hate the shadows. You could never tell if something was hiding in them.

  He looked over at Ann who was laying beside him. Her soft, smooth flesh was naked except for the blanket pulled up to her chest. He reached out, touched her porcelain smooth face and kissed her temple softly.

  He would leave today to go and hunt down the wolves. Sheriff Yale was probably right. There was a good chance they would all die today. He could reconsider of course. Tell the others that he was too afraid to run headlong into the jaws of the enemy, but for what? To prolong the inevitable? The wolves would come sooner or later if they weren't stopped now and they would slaughter every man, woman, and child in this town. Including he and Ann. So that was the reason he was going. Not for them, not for himself, but for her. To keep her safe. The one person in the damned world that he would lay down his life without question for.

 Alexander kissed her forehead again and then her lips. She opened her eyes, looked up into his, and then embraced him tightly.

  "I've got to go" he whispered.

 "I know" she said.

  He kissed her again and pulled himself from the bed. His legs felt sluggish and they disobeyed him. They didn't want to move. He found himself struggling to do anything. All he wanted to do was go back to bed and lay there with Ann until the end of the world.

 He finally convinced his body to move and he dressed quickly. The others would be ready soon. As he stepped out the front door, he turned back and called one last time to Ann.

 "I love you."

 The others had already gathered at the sheriff's station. Someone had made coffee and they were all standing around drinking cups of the warm brew. Alexander joined them and warmed himself by the fire in the hearth.

  "Alright" said sheriff Yale. "I think we've put this off long enough. We should get moving."

  "Any plan for where we're goin' sheriff?" asked Alexander.

 "I figure we'll start where this all started, at the McCormick house. I've got a feeling that we'll find something there."

  Alexander nodded in agreement, but the thought of going back there made his skin crawl. Sheriff Yale was right though. That was as good a place as any to start.

  "Shells are on the table. There's a shotgun in the cabinet with your name on it" said sheriff Yale to Alexander.

  "Thanks sheriff" replied Alexander.

  He started to move toward the cabinet when sheriff Yale turned to the others and asked them to leave. There was a moment of uncertain silence and then the other deputies departed, leaving just sheriff Yale and Alexander.

  "You got somethin' you wantin' to say sheriff?" asked Alexander as he collected the gun from the cabinet. A short barreled coach gun. Twelve gauge with a solid wooden stock.

  "Yeah, I do" replied the sheriff.

   Alexander turned to face the sheriff and stood tall. The sheriff didn't have to like him. Frankly, Alexander didn't give a damn if he did. But it was better to get whatever he needed to say off his chest now rather than in the field when all that mattered was cohesion in the group.

   Sheriff Yale's eyes lightened and he hung his head. "What I said to you that night was wrong. You're not a coward. Not by a long shot. You're a braver man than I am and I'm glad to have you riding with me today."