The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 209 - 203: Troop 276 - Cannibal Camp

Sam stepped back, touching each of the animals in turn, then pointed. Pandemonium shattered the night's silence.

The dogs rushed in, silent at first, then yipping and snarling as they latched onto bodies. They shook their heads, tearing flesh from arms as they did. The cannibals jumped to their feet in a rush, searching around. When no threats other than the dogs appeared rough laughter joined the noises as the others settled back down to watch the unlucky victims try to shake off their attackers.

A mist rolled across the wide, open rock that was their camp and confused noises could be heard. The cannibals milled around in confusion, holding their hands out in front of them as they stumbled around. There was a yip of pain and Alex saw one of the cannibals had grabbed the German Shepard and bit into the scruff of its neck, sharp and gnarled teeth tearing through the fur and into the flesh.

There was a loud crack of a gunshot and the cannibal's head exploded, his body falling backwards into the fire. The Shepard fell with a heavy thud, whimpering softly as it pulled itself back the way it had come.

"Heal him," Alex signed and Sam rushed forward, pulling the dog back towards them by its front paws, healing energy from her Tactical Healing badges flowing into the dog as she did. It wouldn't be a full heal, she was basically a medic that could only stop bleeding and prevent immediate death, but it would be enough to make the dog safe.

Another crack sounded and another body fell, clutching its chest. Alex watched in horror as it climbed back to its feet, brushing away the blood pouring out of the hole in its chest like an irritating gnat bite. It looked around, glaring through the mist.

Alex saw Emily sliding into the recess of the cave, moving silently around the back. Eight of her badges glowed for a moment as Silent Predator and Wilderness Trapper synergies activated, then she moved forward with fluid grace, Bowie knife sliding between the ribs of one of the cannibals before moving to slice through the throat of the one next to it. Both fell to the ground, the one whose throat was cut burbling as it tried to push itself to its feet. Its strength gave out and it fell with a heavy thump, drawing the attention of the others around it. The three others in the cave looked at their fallen comrade, searching the space behind him with suspicion. Emily was confident in Liv's mist, though, as she moved around behind them to strike at the remaining three.

Too confident. Some sort of skill or magical ability turned their eyes a dull yellow for an instant, then all three heads whipped in her direction.

They have a skill! Alex thought with panic. Of course they had a skill. If your class was Cannibal, or something similar, then you most like had a skill that let you find people in the darkness. Possibly even hunt them out no matter how well they were hidden. Of course The System would make it easier for them to find prey.

Em realized her mistake too late as a huge hand caught her descending knife strike, grabbing her wrist with bone-crushing force. The cannibal lifted her into the air, pulling her off the ground so that her face was level with his. She squirmed in his grip, kicking, punching, and slashing with her other knife, all to no avail. Fetid breath gusted over her as it huffed a sick laugh, causing bile to rise up in her throat.

Alex wanted to signal to Kristina, but knew that she couldn't see what was happening underneath her position. Shots were firing off, but they were having less and less effect as she'd had to start aiming for their bodies rather than their heads. The cannibals were moving too erratically as they searched around and headshots were hard, even for the best marksmen.

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"Jim! We need to help Em!" He pointed to the girl and Jim's eyes went wide when he saw her. He lifted both hammers and charged towards them in a sprint, Alex moving swiftly to keep up. Time slowed down for Alex as they ran, the distance between them so short, but so far. He saw the other cannibals closing in around her, even the one she'd stabbed getting to its feet to join its brethren. He had eyes only for her, which is why he didn't see the attack before it was too late.

Alex and Jim both were tackled by cannibals, the huge forms flying in from the side and sending them in a rolling tumble. Jim had shoved the handle of his hammer between the jaws of the one attacking him, but Alex hadn't managed to get his short-handled hatchet up in time. His attacker had his teeth firmly embedded in Alex's arm and was grinding them together, trying to pull chunks of flesh from his bones.

Alex cried out and switched his hatchet to the other hand, swinging it wildly, thumping the blade into the attacker's skull with meaty thwacks. Three, four, five. The sixth did it and Alex felt the hatchet head sink through the hard bone and into the brain, the cannibal's jaw going slack as he did. He pushed the man off of him with a groan and climbed to his feet to see Jim standing over the one that had attacked him, the head of his massive maul resting in a slurry of brain and bone.

Alex looked quickly to Em but couldn't see her, surrounded as she was by the others. He sprinted again, calling her name. The one that held her looked back over his shoulder at Alex, grinned, then snapped his head around in a lunge. Alex cried out as the sound of crunching bone and a young girl's quickly-halted scream echoed across the outcropping.

Alex skidded to a halt, mind blank. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. Impossible. He barely noticed Jim flying past him, both hammers windmilling in wide arcs as he did. Bones crunched and cannibals cried out in rage and pain, but Alex only stood there. He looked around slowly, trying to understand what was happening. They were in a fight. Emily was in the cave, hidden. Sam was in the woods, pulling Hank's antlers and trying to force him into the open space. Kristina was above, her shots ringing out faster and faster. Her gun clicked dry and he heard a curse. Liv was by the river, sliding silently into its depths. The dogs were attacking and harassing cannibals, but not causing a lot of damage. Jim was there with Emily, helping her to her feet. Lifting her up. Holding her, her head limp and hanging backwards at an impossible angle.

Alex trudged forward, meeting Jim's eyes as the other man walked to meet him. Jim's eyes were soft, sad, wet with tears. He held Emily forward. "I'm sorry man, I really am," his rough voice choked on the words. Alex didn't want to look down. Refused to.

Had to.

He looked down and saw Emily's sweet, innocent face - so happy to earn her badges. Always adventurous, always the first to take a risk. He forced his eyes from her face to where her throat had been torn out, chunks from her spine missing as well. Alex choked, caught his breath, choked again. He reached out with a trembling hand to touch her one last time.

"Watch your fucking backs!" They both looked up and saw Kristina flying through the air, pistols in each hand. Popping sounds met their ears and a cannibal was flung sideways with a grunt as her shots peppered its torso and head. She landed in a neat roll, popping to her feet and adopting a wide-legged stance with pistols out to each side.

"You two assholes need to get your shit together or we're all dead!" More shots sounded and more cannibals fell, some of them not getting up again. "I'm almost out and there's more of them than us!"

She looked back over her shoulder and saw Emily, then looked to Alex and Jim, her gaze soft. "Oh fuck, I'm so sorry. That poor girl." She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of one sleeve, still firing with the other hand. Her pistols racked back, empty. She sighed and dropped them into her holsters, trotted over to Jim and pulled the pick and smaller maul from his hip belt. "I'm going to kill every last one of these motherfuckers. For her, I'm going to kill them all twice!" She was off as fast as any of her bullets, charging straight at the closest cannibal.

Jim laid Emily down on the ground gently, closing her eyes with a calloused hand. "I'm sorry man, I really am, but you have others that are alive. We need to finish this."