10-30 Chap 1 redux Moose42's MHI Fan Fiction *Spoiler Alert*

[Dedicated_Dad]

as you continue to write, the prose is improving.

There are some extra words in sentences and things like that, but the character and story development is coming along quite well.

I like this last section the best.

Agreed!

[moose42]

Aww shucks guys thanks.

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Chapter 12
Blood Stains

I looked at the three men; they sat at a table outside of the cell. I hadn’t expected this. Harbinger motioned for me to take a seat. Nobody spoke for an eerie amount of time. Finally when I was sufficiently uncomfortable Harbinger began.

“Miller, we are here to discuss with you your recent behavior, unbecoming a Monster Hunter.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was going to be fired. “Excessive tardiness, dereliction of duty, intoxicated while on duty, negligent discharge of a firearm.” He closed the manila folder on the table.

I spoke up, “I guess this means I need to pack my things?”

Owen sighed, “No you don’t.” he continued “But frankly we think you’re a mess.” He seemed to have sympathy for me. I put my head in my hand. “Miller, we all think you have the potential to become a great Hunter, maybe a team leader someday.”

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. “But?” I asked.

Sam looked at the other two men, “But, you are too much of a loose cannon. You need to get your head out of your ass and focus on the task at hand. Like skipping out on your punishment by getting drunk with the orcs.”

I tried to explain that I hadn’t meant for all those things to happen but my head was still swimming and I couldn’t really articulate my defense very well, after some inane blathering Harbinger cut me off. “Miller, do you want to be a Hunter? That’s all I really need to know.”

I sat there and silently struggled with myself. After an awkward silence I had made my decision. I stood up placed both hands on the table and looked him straight in the eye. “I will do whatever it takes to be the best damn Hunter that I can be. I will no longer bring dishonor to my family name. My grandfather killed thousands of evil beasts and made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us all safe. I will not disappoint him.” I felt a squeeze on my shoulder, I looked but no one was there.

Harbinger smiled, “Well it looks like both of the Millers are here to stay.” He got up to leave. The other two men followed.

When they reached the door I called out, “Thanks.”

“For what?” Earl replied.

“For giving me another shot.” I said somberly.

Earl smirked, “Don’t mention it.”

As I opened the door to my cell I suddenly realized how tired I was. I didn’t even bother to take off my boots. I collapsed in a heap and was asleep in moments.

***

My sleep was uneasy the strange dreams returned again. A horde of zombies chased me down dark streets again. I ran to the same dead end as before. But this time I was armed with my AK-47. I yelled and fired rapidly into the undead mob, one after another they fell at my feet, choking the alley with dead-again corpses. When I ran out of ammo I dropped the rifle. It clattered as it hit the cement.

A pistol appeared in my hands, it was a Beretta 9mm. Where was my XD? I started shooting the beasts but they wouldn’t drop. I emptied an entire magazine into the lead zombie before he fell. I struggled to get a new magazine in the pistol. Twisted grey hands reached for me, clawing at my flesh. I screamed out in pain, and dropped the slide on the weapon. I aimed at the shadowy figure in front of me, but I couldn’t pull the trigger, it was my brother!

He wore a sickening smile that would have made the Joker proud. Blood dripped from his lips. “Come on in brother, the darkness is fine!” He bared his fangs and sunk them deep into my throat.

I jerked awake in a cold sweat. I reflexively grabbed my neck; warm blood ran down my fingers. I screamed, and scrambled for the door. I swung it open and it slammed into the concrete walls. Katrina stood in the hallway she looked startled.

“Marty what the…” she stopped when she saw the blood all over my hands and neck. “Medic!” she yelled.

I leaned against the wall to keep from falling down; I left a bloody handprint on the wall. Kat pulled a bandanna out of her pocket and held it against the wound on my throat. “I’m ok really.” I lied.

“No you aren’t. You are losing good amount of blood. Sit down.” She led me to one of the chairs leftover from the meeting last night.

Harbinger came down the stairs, saw me and asked, “Intruders?”

I spit a bit of salty blood out of my mouth, “My brother was here.” I was starting to hyperventilate. “They turned him into a bloody vampire.”

“How could he have gotten in here? Vampires require permission to enter.” Kat puzzled. Harbinger entered the cell with his pistol drawn. He came back out moments later.

He shook his head. “It’s clear, that room only has one way in and out. You probably just scratched yourself during your sleep.” Harbinger pealed back the bandana; I winced as they looked at it. “Damn, that is a vampire bite.”

I started feeling light headed, “Two ways.”

“What?” they said in unison.

“There are two ways in and out of that room.” I reiterated, “The door and the drain.”

Kat sounded anxious, “But what about the permission to enter?”

I sighed, “He’s my brother. I used to let him come over to my place anytime he wanted to. He didn’t even have to knock.” I started to worry about the vampires curse running through my veins. “What is going to happen to me now?” I asked Harbinger.

“Oh when you die you will come back as a vampire. So before your funeral we will have to cut your head off.” He said indifferently.

I spat a large amount of blood onto the floor. “So I guess we need to make sure I don’t die then.”


***

I was rushed to the company infirmary; I was having trouble walking so Harbinger tossed me over his shoulder. The doctor Gretchen was busy sorting medical supplies when we burst in the door.

She saw the necklace Tommy had given me, and bowed, “Ork… brother.” She took off her sunglasses and baklava much to the surprise of Kat. She went to work sewing up my neck. Two little pin pricks hah! Hollywood always tried to civilize the bloodsuckers, they were like animals. My own brother had ripped a big chunk out of my neck.

When I was released from the infirmary I staggered out into the main lobby. Thankfully Kat had brought me some clothes to put on, so I didn’t have to run around the compound in my skivvies. It was Sunday and the compound was all but deserted, but MHI was never completely empty.

Kat met me in the lobby. “Hey Marty, you really look like crap.”

“Gee thanks. I probably look like I feel.” I put a hand up on my head and swayed a bit. She grabbed my arm.

“Hey stay with me Moose.” She looked bothered by my shakiness.

I shook my head, ooh that was a mistake, “I’ll be ok. Let’s get some breakfast, you drive.” I said as I handed her my keys.

We drove to a little country diner out on the highway. The kind frequented by truckers, bikers, and the occasional monster hunter. We sat in a booth and waited for the plump middle aged waitress to come take our order.

“About last night…” she started. I looked at her a bit puzzled, the events of last night were still blurry. “I’m sorry I punched you, that was uncalled for.”

“Oh yeah, that did kinda hurt.” I absently rubbed my bruised jaw.

She scowled at me. “But you were acting weird, all covered in war paint. You looked like you had just stepped out of the Lord of the Flies.”

I laughed, “Sorry about that I was a bit drunk.”

“Drunk?” she looked confused, “You told me on the drive here you didn’t drink.”

I sighed, “Well that was before I ran into a bunch of orcs.” I proceeded to relate as much of the story of my ill fated run in the woods yesterday. It was good to be with her again.

The waitress finally decided to grace our table with her presence. “Welcome to Debora’s Diner, home of the never ending stack of pancakes, may I take your order.” She rattled off her welcome spiel like she had said it a million times, she probably had.

Kat ordered a Debora’s Breakfast Omelet. I was about to order when the waitress gasped. “Boy, what happened to you? Get bit by a vampire?” She laughed a disgusting chortle.

“Yeah very funny…” I looked at her greasy nametag, “Sue. I’ll have the never ending stack, with buttermilk syrup.” Somehow she was able to squeeze behind the bar and off into the kitchen.

Kat was grinning at me. “You know she’s right.” I rolled my eyes. “No I’m serious you really look like a vampire victim.”

“Or maybe I just donated to the Red Cross, and they were trying a new technique to draw blood. Or I know perhaps I AM a vampire victim.” I put a hand on the bandage covering my neck. “I’m going to have a nasty scar aren’t I?”

Kat shot me a sultry look. “Trust me Moose, girls dig guys with scars.”

“Really? You do, I mean they do?” I bumbled.

Just then our food arrived. “One DBO for the lady, and the never ending stack for Twilight boy here.” I shot her a look that could have been used to send laser-guided bombs to their targets. She snorted and retreated back into the kitchen.

I devoured my food, getting drained of blood made me hungry. I guess that’s why the Red Cross made you eat after donating blood. I had just made a ‘donation’ to my own brother. I shuddered, I had always shared everything with him when we were kids. I just hadn’t planned on sharing my blood.

The boy whom I grew up with killing grasshoppers in the backyard, was gone. All the memories of my youth rushed back: building forts, digging holes, shooting bows, playing tag, water fights, snow ball fights, paper routes, were all wrenched away. Michael was now living a fate worse than death. Tears welled up in my eyes. I had to free him from his undead prison if it was the last thing I did.

“Hey, Moose.” Kat waved her hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my daydream. “What’s going on in there?”

I looked down at my syrup drenched crumbs. “Nothing, I’m fine.”

She coughed, “Marty, I’ve known you long enough to tell when something is bothering you.” She placed her hand on top of mine.

I took a deep breath and looked in her deep brown eyes. “I have to kill my brother.”

“Umm, refill hon?” The waitress’s eyes grew huge in shock. I nodded and she topped off my glass of orange juice. She fled back to the safety of the kitchen; surprisingly fast for a woman of her girth.

I leaned in and whispered, “I will not let him live in that undead prison, he deserves better than that.” I began breathing heavily. “Living as a vampire is a fate worse than death. He has been preying on people to drink their blood to continue his pitiful tormented existence. Hell he attacked me, his own kin just to get a bite to eat.”

Katrina sighed, “Actually Marty I think he wanted to turn you into one of them. Despite becoming a pawn of evil I am sure he still loves you and wants his big brother to become just like him.”

I felt dirty, I could almost feel his fangs slashing my throat again. I shuddered, “More the reason to kill him and set his spirit free.”

We sat in an awkward lull in the conversation, amid the clinking ceramic plates and cheap bent silverware. A cook shouted, in the greasy kitchen at the waitress.

We left the diner and climbed back into my pickup. I got in the passenger’s side; I was still too tired and strung out to drive safely.

“Where to?” Kat said annoyingly cheerfully when she climbed in the cab. I shrugged. “Well I have a great idea for our day off.” She announced.

“Oh what’s that?” I asked.

She punched me on my bruised shoulder. “We’re going fishing!” I grimaced, my shoulder still hurt from all the pounding the orcs had given me yesterday.

I rubbed my shoulder, “Ok so where exactly are we going fishing?”

“Miller’s Ferry Campground.” She said as she turned the ignition.

I rolled my eyes, “Did you pick it because of the name?”

“Well of course.” she said as she shifted into first gear.

Less than two hours later we arrived at the campground. The Alabama River meandered lazily through the trees. Songbirds chirped and fish jumped. It seemed like a great place to let the cares of the world melt away.

I stretched my legs and dropped the tailgate on the truck. Kat had packed everything, fishing poles, chairs, clothes, both our rifle cases, and a cooler stocked with all the essential campfire foods. “Well haven’t you been the busy one.” I smiled at her. The food and nap on the drive out here had helped me feel a bit more like my abnormal self.

Kat grabbed a fishing pole and tackle box, “Let’s catch some largemouth Bass!”

Fortunately we had the stretch of river to ourselves. It was great to cast in a line and relax, as the water lazily rolled on by. For a brief moment I found complete peace, in the raging turmoil of my life. My pole jerked in my hand, I had a fish on! I quickly began to reel it in, “I’ve got a monster fish!” I yelled. He was really fighting hard. After a couple of minutes I had him. I pulled the line up out of the water.

It was a little bluegill. “Wow quite the record breaking champion fish you’ve got there Moose.” Kat joked.

“Well he seemed a lot bigger when I couldn’t see him.” I laughed and released my monster catch back into the water.

For the next couple of hours we didn’t catch anything. By noon it was getting very hot and muggy. Kat reeled in her line and took off her shirt. I quickly averted my eyes. “What the heck are you doing?” I asked.

“We aren’t catching anything, and it’s hot. I’m going for a swim.” She explained casually. “Hey Marty, why aren’t you looking at me? Normally I can’t get you to stop.”

I glanced up she had been wearing her swimming suit under her clothes. I exhaled. “Oh nothing.”

“What, you thought I was going to go skinny dipping?” She laughed and ran out into the water.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, “So what am I supposed to do?”

She laughed, “I packed your swimsuit when you were getting stitched up.”

I changed into my swimsuit behind the truck and swam out to where Kat was treading water. She splashed me in the face and took off. Oh so she wanted me to chase her, intriguing! We swam in the cool water in the shade of a clump of oak trees. Life couldn’t get any better. Katrina swam up put her arms around me and we kissed. Wow I was wrong, it could! We stood there in the deep water kissing for a few minutes. I didn’t want this moment to end.

She pulled back after a minute, and shot me a mischievous smile. “Race you to the island!” She said as she dunked my head under the water. I recovered moments later wiping the water from my eyes. She was already halfway out to the small river island about fifty feet from shore when she screamed and disappeared beneath the water.

[moose42]

Well guys I need an aquatic type monster. Any suggestions?

[Precision]

the obvious:
Giant Carp -fish of any sort
crocodile
alligator
shark
Porpoise

You could also run with a
Kelpie -- semi intelligent bed of kelp that dislikes females and attempts to charm male humans or male horses...
Water Elemental
Lamprey- giant blood sucking eel
Lycanthropic Sea Lion
Merman / mermaid
Morkoth-known as wraiths of the deep- evil water based vaguely humanoid creature, highly intelligent...
Water Naga
Water weird-native of the elemental plane of water - indistinguishable from the liquid they inhabit- to attack they form a serpent-like head and strike ...
Sea Zombie - drown sailor or other drowning victim- free willed creatures driven by hatred for the living

I can fill in descriptions if anything is appealing

[moose42]

I was thinking maybe a Naga.

In the next chapter what I have so far Marty goes hand to had with some vagely humanoid creature and chokes it into letting go of Kat. He pulls her out of the drink and finds a black spine stuck in her leg. When he removes it she can breathe again.

Do M67 grenades work underwater? Why do I ask? No reason.

[Precision]

Naga's are snakes with humanoid heads.

mermen, morkoth, sea zombies are all humanoid

How about a "hydrosphinx"
A Sea born sphinx with a lionesque body but with otter like paws and the lion's tail has psuedo porcupine spikes instead of hair and uses it as a weapon like a stegosaurus. The spikes have a paralytic in them.

New monster with all but your humanoid characteristics and once it meets resistance might well flee, especially if a M-67 blows up in the water nearby.

[moose42]

Part 1 of chapter 13

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Chapter 13
Drowned

Frantically I dove into the water. I reached the spot where Kat had gone under and I plunged underwater. The water was so muddy I could hardly see anything. I went back up for air, gasping for air. I dove again and swam searching for the bottom of the river. A few feet away I saw a dark shape move. I swam toward it. It was Kat, something was clinging to her!

My lungs burned but I pressed forward. I lashed out and grabbed a scaly arm, it jerked trying to get away from me. I found a slimy neck and squeezed. It let go of Katrina, and disappeared amid the silt. I grabbed her arm and kicked for the surface. I needed air desperately, but the sweet life giver seemed so far away. Kat hung below me limp and motionless.

With a final kick and I broke the surface of the water. I gasped for air; I wanted it so badly I couldn’t think of anything but breathing. Kat was still below the water lifeless. I struggled to pull her head above the water. The gentle current was taking us further away from shore out into the middle of the river. I was exhausted and half drowned myself, the little river island was our only hope. I kicked and paddled with one hand as hard as I could until I felt the bottom. I dragged Kat up on the grassy shore and collapsed in exhaustion.

I put my ear up to her mouth she wasn’t breathing. “Damn it Kat stay with me!” I rolled her over onto her side, water poured from her mouth. I shoved her clammy lifeless body back over and checked her airway her tongue had lodged in the back of her throat. I swept the tongue away with my fingers and began giving her rescue breaths. Her lifeless wet lips pressed against mine, it felt sick, her kisses had always been warm and full of life. I couldn’t lose her. How long had she been under? Two, maybe three minutes? I wasn’t sure. I gave her another breath with no response. My fingers sought her carotid artery. Please have a pulse, please. “Yes!” I cried. It was weak, but her heart was still beating. I looked down her chest to see if it was rising and falling nothing.

That’s when I saw it. A wicked black spine nearly six inches long was stuck in her leg. I grabbed and tried to pull it out, it remained stuck fast. The end was slick with a nasty green ichor. I had nothing to use to get it out. I pulled again but could hardly get a hold of it. Then a strange idea hit me. I pulled off my swimsuit and wrapped it around the shaft of the spine and tied it in a knot. I yanked the spine out; its barbed tip tore a chunk of her flesh as it came out.

Kat gasped as soon as the spine was removed. Her body contorted strangely released from the grip of the terrible paralyzing poison. She coughed up more water and gasped for air. She was breathing on her own; she would live, thank God.

I sat there wet exhausted and stunned for a few minutes as I watched Kat come back from the dead. Her color improved, from purple and clammy, to her normal olive tone. A few minutes later she was conscious again. “Marty? What happened?” She tried to sit up and thought better of it.

“Something attacked you and stung you with this.” I showed her the barb still wrapped in my swimsuit.

Kat cracked a weak smile, “Why are you naked?”
I was so focused of getting her to breathe again I had forgotten to put my swimsuit back on. I hurriedly unwrapped the barb and struggled back into my swimsuit. It was now covered in the slimy green ick. “I couldn’t get this barb out of your leg, so I had to use something to grab onto it.”

Kat spit up some more water, “Likely story, horn-ball.” a small trickle of blood oozed from the jagged puncture wound on her leg. Storm clouds gathered in the distance, it was going to rain soon, great. Something moved just below the surface of the water. I grabbed a large smooth river rock off the ground.

“Did you see that?” I whispered.

Kat could sense the fear in my voice. “Is the thing that attacked me back?” she replied.

The water rippled and a fin broke the surface for a brief moment, only a few feet away. I hurled the rock into the water after the creature. “We need guns!” I growled at the water. The swim back to the shore seemed horribly treacherous now.

“Or a boat!” Kat managed to croak out. She pointed up river; a man in a green plastic canoe was floating toward us.

I stood up and yelled, “Help! Over Here!” I waved my arms and shouted until he saw me. “Good he is paddling over here.” I told Kat.

The man was wearing a well warn fishing hat festooned with all kinds of lures. He called out when he was within earshot. “Hello over there! Are you ok?” he had to be able to see Kat lying on the ground now.

I yelled back, “No my girlfriend here hurt her leg on a sharp stick and can’t swim back across.” He closed the last few feet of water and I grabbed hold of the faded and well used canoe.

The fisherman who was obviously enjoying his retirement hopped out of the canoe. “Wow, you really snagged yourself good.” He said to Kat and she nodded. The old man pulled a small waterproof box out of one of his many vest pockets. Inside was a first aid kit, he pulled out some gauze and tape. I pulled the stern of the canoe up onto the island while he bandaged Kat’s leg.

After a few minutes I came up with a plan. The fisherman and Kat would go over to the shore first, after she was safely on shore he would come back for me and make one more trip.

I watched intently for any movement on the water when they made the trip back. Thankfully nothing happened. The old man helped Kat out of the Canoe and she limped over to the truck and sat on the tailgate.

I hopped in the canoe and we pushed off for the shore. In the middle of the river the canoe violently lurched and capsized, sending me back into the water. I grabbed onto the canoe and frantically looked for the beast that I knew was lurking below. The fisherman came up spurting water mixed with obscenities.

“Marty behind you!” Kat yelled from the shore. I turned and caught a glimpse of brown fins skimming across the water toward me. I snagged a floating paddle and slapped at it. The creature reared up out of the water, its hideous scaly head was covered in black spines. I jabbed at it and kept it at bay as it tried to cut me to ribbons with its sharp claws.

The water in front of the slimy beast shot up like a geyser as a bullet from Kat’s M-4 smacked it. “Swim! Dang it swim!” She yelled, I dropped the paddle and raced toward the shore. Bullets whizzed past my head and struck the water behind me. I crawled out of the water and turned around. The fisherman was still clinging to the capsized canoe his face was as white as a sheet.

“Dude! Swim to shore we will cover you!” I called. He had completely frozen up. The aquatic nightmare was heading straight for him. Kat fired another string of rounds and the beast disappeard back beneath the rippling water.

He looked panicked. “Stop shooting at me!”

“Canoe guy! We don’t have time to argue there is a vicious man eating beast in the water and we can’t hold it off forever.” I yelled trying to get him to understand. I grabbed Kat’s 870 shotgun, and rushed to the shoreline. I caught a glimpse of the monster moving in for another attack. I fired three shells into the water. It didn’t stop. Round pellets lose a lot of speed real fast in water. The fisherman disappeared. I jacked another shell in the chamber and waded out into the water.

“Do you see him?” Kat called out while changing a magazine. The canoe slowly drifted to the shore. We waited looking for any sign of movement. Suddenly the fisherman burst out of the water coughing and spitting. He held a long bloody fishing knife.

I grabbed a hold of him and pulled him onto dry land. He coughed and spat, a couple of black spines were stuck in his fishing vest. I dragged him over to the truck where he lay sputtering.

Kat handed me a grenade. “Where did you get this?” I asked.

“Oh I borrowed it from the armory.” She smiled.

I pulled the pin and tossed it into the water. “Frag Out!” I had always wanted to say that.

After a short delay, we heard a muffled blast and a huge column of water shot into the air. The canoe split in two and was tossed onto shore. After a few moments a few catfish, largemouth bass, and one hideous scaly brown humanoid floated to the surface.

I dragged it out by its tail onto the shore. It looked dead, but I shot it in the head for good measure. I just hoped my fishing license covered fishing with grenades.”

The fisherman sat stunned for a while. He shrugged out of his fishing vest and dropped it on the ground. He was lucky, the flotation panels, and copious pockets of fishing supplies had kept the spines from embedding into his skin. After getting his breath back he gasped “What was that thing? And who the hell are you people?”

“It looks like a Naga, or twisted merman.” I suggested.

Kat smiled, “We’re Monster Hunters. When things go bump in the night, we bump back.”

“Sorry about your canoe.” I offered.

The soaked fisherman spit, “Well it doesn’t matter I’m not going out in a canoe ever again.”

***

(More to come)

[randy]

So, is Marty going to be wearing a Naga Hide jacket in the next chapter?

[moose42]

Chapter 13 part 2


***

With the help of the old fisherman, we loaded the dead Naga into the back of the pickup and covered it with an old packing blanket. We drove to where he had parked his truck, and helped him pack up his stuff. Kat gave him an MHI card and told him to call if he wanted to hunt monsters, for a living. For some reason I didn’t think he was about take us up on the offer but he had taken a few good chunks out of the monster with his skinning knife, so who knew.

We burned rubber back to headquarters as it started raining. On the way back we were still in our swimsuits, we hadn’t had time to change. I didn’t think I could swim in natural water again. I thought about all the alligator stories in the news and if they were really Naga attacks.

About an hour into the trip back Kat turned to me and asked. “Marty, does your grandpa have thinning grey hair and wear old cowboy style shirts?”

I looked over at her and quickly back at the road. “Umm yeah why do you ask?”

“Well after I was pulled under by fish-breath back there I struggled for a few moments until I couldn’t move.” She breathed deeply. “I found myself face to face with the beast but I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t bite my throat out. When I blacked out I saw myself floating in the water; with the beast holding me down trying to kill me.” I could tell she still trying to wrap her head around her out of body experience.

“Then what happened?” I gently prodded.

She moved a lock of wet hair out of her face, and continued. “I saw your grandfather holding the Naga’s mouth shut.”

Neither of us spoke. We sat listening to the windshield wipers and rainwater splashing off the tires.

A few minutes later, the car ahead of us flashed its brake lights and swerved wildly. I slammed on the brakes and downshifted, the engine roared with the higher RPM’s, we skidded to a halt, about six inches from the little hippy station wagon.
I happened to read one of the many bumper sticker plastered on the cars back window “There are no hunting accidents it’s called Karma!”

A whitetail doe bounded away from the station wagon, across the road, over the Jersey barrier and disappeared into the woods.

I laughed, “They almost got killed by Bambi’s mom, sounds like Karma to me.” I noticed the car had Massachusetts plates. The driver drove over to the shoulder and parked. I pulled up next to them and Kat rolled down her window. The driver was gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. After a moment she realized we were there. She rolled down her window.

Kat hollered over the steady drumbeat of the rain. “Hey you ok?”

The young woman with short cropped hair and a nose ring turned to look up at Kat. “Umm… I think so.”

“Here’s a bit of trivia for you!” I yelled as I leaned over the passenger side. “Deer kill more people in the US than any other animal. So I guess we shouldn’t hunt ‘em!” I hit the gas and we were back on the road. “Stupid hippies.” I muttered to myself.

“Marty! You can be so rude.” She shook her head. “That girl was scared to death.”

I growled, “Good, maybe it will scare some sense into that empty head of hers. She hates hunters, meat, guns, SUV’s, and doesn’t support our soldiers fighting in the sandbox!” I was starting to see red. “She hates everything that America stands for and would rather have a fascist government than the democratic republic we have now. Screw her! Besides she wasn’t hurt.”

Kat thought about it for a moment, “How did you figure all that out so fast?”

I shrugged, “Bumper stickers, they tell a lot about the person in the driver’s seat. Her car was festooned with liberal garbage.” I decided to change the subject. “So how is your leg feeling?”

“It hurts, what do you think?” She rubbed the area surrounding the wound.

We arrived back at MHI nearly an hour later. We had called ahead to let them know what we were carrying in the back end of my truck. Thankfully we hadn’t been stopped by the fish and game, which would have made for a very interesting conversation.

The guard at the gate waved us on in and we pulled around the back of the compound to the loading dock. The massive door rolled up and a team of heavily armed hunters were waiting for us. I got out and opened the door on the passenger’s and helped Kat out of the rig.

The hunter with the scorpion patch, who she had been flirting with yesterday whistled when he saw Katrina in just her bikini. “Hey cut the crap!” I yelled, “She’s been wounded.”

“Moose, I can take care of myself, I’m a big girl.” She said soft enough so they couldn’t hear. A wheelchair was waiting on the dock and I sat her down in it.

As we passed the group of hunters Kat looked at the hunter who had whistled at her. “What, never seen a girl in a skimpy swimming suit before? Still living in your momma’s basement?”

“Ooooh!” the other hunters jeered their companion.

Once we were safely in the compound I busted up laughing. “Nice one Kat.”

“See I can take care of myse…” she started convulsing in the chair.

I ran the chair to the infirmary. “Medic! Medic!” I yelled.

Gretchen and a human nurse met us at the door. We lifted her up onto the examination table. “What… poison… her?” she asked me.

I spoke rapidly, “Some sort of underwater monster, a Naga I think!”

Gretchen peeled back one of Kat’s eyelids, “Go… bring… poison… now!” she commanded. I hit the door running.

When I got back to the dock, the hunters had dragged the carcass out of my pickup and onto a cart.

I ran up to the hunters, “I need pliers, now!” I yelled. One of them pulled out a pocket multi-tool. I hastily grabbed it and slid the pliers open.

“Marty what’s wrong?” Sarge had just joined the group of hunters.

I wrenched out a black spine from the tip of dead beasts tail. “Kat’s having a reaction to the poison, bad!” I ran carrying the spine over my head back into the compound, Sarge followed. I reached the infirmary in moments. Gretchen pointed to a large glass jar hall full of a thick red liquid. I dropped the nasty spine into the jar, it began to fizz.

“Get… out!” Gretchen ordered. I didn’t move.

“Come on, Marty, there is nothing more you can do. Let them work.” Sarge tried to convince me to go. He finally pulled me by the arm out of the infirmary. I collapsed on a chair outside the swinging door, I was getting sick of so many adrenaline spikes in one day.

Steve sat down next to me. He didn’t speak, he didn’t need to. The only thing I wanted to hear now was Gretchen telling me she was going to make it. Nothing else mattered.

A few minutes later Steve tapped me on the shoulder, “Marty, your neck is bleeding again.” I touched the wound on my neck; the bandage had long since been lost. I muttered that I was fine. He insisted, “Look kid, let me bandage that up for you.” He went into the infirmary to get some bandages. I caught a glimpse of Kat lying on the table, she looked horrible, but at least she wasn’t convulsing anymore.

Three hours later Gretchen opened the swinging door. “She… want…see…you.” I launched myself out of the chair.

Kat was sitting up in a hospital bed, off to the side of the main examination room. She smiled weakly when I entered the room. Her skin was extremely pale. She was covered up with old blankets; an IV dripped a red liquid into her veins. An EKG monitor quietly beeped, her heart-rate was very slow.

“Hey.” She called weakly.

I sat on a stool by her bedside and took her hand. “Hey, how do you feel?”

She shivered, “Cold, tired, and kinda like road kill.”

“You’re going to be ok.” I tried to reassure myself more than her. “What happened?”

She coughed a couple of times, “Gretchen said something about the poison traveling up to my heart.” She looked at my bare chest, “Hey you big lug why didn’t you go get some clothes on?”

I looked away, “I didn’t want to leave your side.”

“Aww isn’t that sweet.” Her heart rate increased.

Gretchen came over and pointed at me, “Heart… weak… you… leaf.”

I kissed Kat on the forehead and got up to leave. When I was at the door she told me to wait. “Marty remember what you told the unfortunate fisherman about me?”

I was a bit puzzled, “Umm no.”

“You called me your girlfriend.” She said with a smirk.

I rubbed my forehead, “I did, oh yeah.” It was coming back to me now.

“Yes I am.” She said with another weak smile. I left the room walking on air.

[JKosprey]

I'm enjoying this very much-keep it up!

One nitpick though, you feel for a pulse on the carotid artery, not the jugular vein.