fanfiction Ultimus Chapter Nine: The Hunted

[OverRannus]

Ultimus Chapter Nine: The Hunted

 

Andrew ran through the forest, they had been going down the path for what seemed to be hours. The dark, lush conifer forest was beautiful, but you can get lost easily inside. Which is why he stayed on the path. Whether it was longer to continue on the path, it was the safest route to take. He continued down the path for a little bit longer. His thoughts began to wander though. His stomach growled and his legs began to shake. Andrew forgot to eat anything since he woke up yesterday. But even if he did, he wasn’t sure if anything back in the house was edible, even MREs would be completely inedible at this point. He would have to hunt something down. But he didn’t want to leave the path. Luckily for him, it seemed he wouldn’t have to.

Off the path to Andrew’s left was a group of what looked like deer or elk with moose-like antlers. They were only about 25 or so feet off the path. The deer were looking at him straight on before lowering their heads to graze. Andrew saw them and was in awe. He thought that they must have never seen a human before so they had no son to fear him. They were majestic in the evening sunlight. But beauty had to take a step behind hunger.

Andrew grabbed the sling of his rifle from his right shoulder and put the weapon’s stock on his shoulder. He began trying to aim the weapon at one of the deer with the antlers. He was sure which eye to use so he used the right one. He adjusted his aim for a moment until he felt it was a good place to hit. He aimed for the shoulders of the animal and pulled the trigger slowly. The gun fired and knocked Andrew down to the ground from the surprise of the kick. He looked and saw that one of the deer jumped and began running away, soon all the deer ran away with the one he hit. Andrew quickly got up, put the rifle on his shoulder, and began to follow them off the path.

Andrew's following adventure soon stopped as he watched a creature jump out from one of the trees and tackle the deer he shot. It quickly immobilized it and killed it. Andrew was struck with fear by the animal. It was as large as a bear and looked like a tiger mixed with a bear. It got up and began tearing the deer open and eating it. Andrew took a step back and heard a loud snap. Andrew looked down and saw that he had stepped on a large, old branch that cracked under his weight. Andrew looked back and saw the creature lowered and prowling its way towards him. Andrew looked quickly over at Reuben and swung the rifle off his shoulder again.

“Reuben, Go!!!” Andrew commanded, and Reuben quickly ran away behind him somewhere. Andrew put the rifle to his shoulder again, aimed, and fired it. He hit the creature and it staggered for a moment before charging at him. Andrew aimed again and fired a second and third shot at the creature. But it didn’t stop and continued to charge him at full speed. The beast reached Andrew and swiped him in the chest with its arm and claws. Andrew flew from the force of the hit and slammed into a tree.

His rifle still in hand but dazed, Andrew looked down to see how much he was bleeding. Thinking he was going to die. However, there wasn’t any blood, not even a scratch in the suit. It withstood the swipe from the creature. Andrew looked up and saw the creature pacing back and forth around him, planning its next move. The creature then charged again and Andrew lifted the gun up and took aim. The creature charged and ran right on top of Andrew and his mouth opened as Andrew aimed. The muzzle of the rifle went right into the mouth of the creature and it struggled to get it out. Andrew panicked and began firing shots.

Bang, Bang, Bang!!

Andrew fired three shots before he noticed that only one shot did the job. The creature’s body lay on top of him lifeless. The muzzle of the gun was still in its mouth. A large hole was in the back of the head of the animal. Andrew slowly slipped out from underneath it and looked at it. He had bagged a large animal and had two carcasses to use now. Andrew looked back at the deer, it was already cut and ready for harvesting. He looked around and saw Reuben lying down about fifty to a hundred feet away over on the path.

“Reuben, Come!” Andrew said and Reuben quickly got up and walked over to him. Andrew began shaking, he knelt down and hugged Reuben. He thought he was going to die and never see him again. He held Reuben tightly for a while.

Andrew got up and looked at the beast he killed again. He saw the large sharp claws it had on its front paws and an idea came to Andrew. He looked at Reuben.

“I think we’ll be fine for food for a while. Let’s get a fire started.” Andrew said.

 

* * * *

 

Andrew sat near a fire he started and watched as the second batch of deer meat cooked overhead of the fire. He was eating the first batch as he watched the second batch. The cooked meat tasted so good, it was slightly burnt but he didn’t care. He hadn’t eaten anything for almost two days. Whatever he felt he couldn’t eat or had any bones, he gave to Reuben.

Andrew noticed the fire was beginning to fade. He got up and began to walk down the path to find good firewood. As he searched, he found out the path forked into two, and a post stood in between. He began collecting around this fork for logs and branches that were the freshest and best to use for firewood. He walked past the post and heard a metal clang. He looked down and saw a sign lying on the ground. It was extremely faded, but he could still read what it once said. There were directions to an Inn, a Military Memorial, and… the Park Entrance and Visitor Center!! They were only fifteen miles to the right from them!!! Andrew got excited and ran back to Reuben and the meat. He was going to finish cooking what was on the spit and hurry to the entrance.