Get Bent!

by Rick Gualtieri

  As for me taking over the pack and ordering them the fuck out of town, well, Mom had provided that answer – fear. There were already going to be fewer wolves returning home than had come here, and I was responsible for a good chunk of them. If I added Craig to that number, I was willing to bet the rest would trip over themselves to get as far away from me as they could.

  Either that or they’d all attack at once and rip me to shreds.

  Considering how my stomach felt once I was back on my feet, I might not have minded that option too much.

  Unfortunately, in the time it took me to get mobile again, a lot of the formerly organized resistance broke up as the townsfolk realized what was happening. Between that and those lost in the fight, there was maybe half a dozen people remaining. Bodies, human and otherwise, littered the street. A few brave souls were trying to cover them with blankets, sheets, flags, anything they could find.

  It broke my heart to see so many cut down and for such stupid, selfish reasons. I was well aware that part of that selfishness was on me, but the pity party would have to wait. If I didn’t act, soon every street in town would look like this.

  “What’s your plan?” I asked Chief Johnson once I was up and relatively certain my guts weren’t going to spill out onto the ground with the first step I took.

  “You mean besides early retirement if I live through this shit?” he asked with a sigh. “We can’t fight these things all over the goddamned town. They’ll pick us off like flies. Phone lines are down and so are cell towers, so the chances of getting help to come to us in time are pretty slim.”

  “What’s that leave?”

  “Going old school. We go door to door evacuating people, then bring as many as we can somewhere safe.”

  Again, I was surprised by how level-headed he was. However, rather than voice my concerns, I simply nodded in agreement.

  “We need a defensible location, otherwise those bastards will have us for supper.”

  Again I nodded. “Any ideas? Town hall? The police station?”

  “Too small. I’m thinking Saint Matthews over on Elm. It’s big enough, the walls are made of brick, and there’s only a few entrances. Doesn’t hurt that Reverend Keller owes me a favor.”

  “That could work.”

  “Yeah, could being the operative word, if we can get everyone there.”

  “I think I can help with that. If what I have planned works, most of these things will have their eyes on me.”

  “Throwing yourself to the wolves?”

  “Something like that.”

  “I’m not going to fight you on this, because I’d probably lose,” he said. “All I’m going to say is good luck and try not to get yourself killed. Oh, and come tomorrow, if I were you, I’d lose the mask and play dumb as a brick to anyone asking what you were up to.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. The chief was way too calm, collected, and rational for what was going on. He had to know something, but since he seemed cool with keeping my secret, the least I could do was not push my luck.

  When I was finished, I thanked the men who’d helped patch me up and turned away.

  “Oh, and Ninja Girl?” Chief Johnson called after me.

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks. A lot of people here owe their lives to you tonight.”

  I wished I could’ve accepted that praise, but being that I was the cause of this, it didn’t feel right.

  I wasn’t sure it would ever feel completely right.

  But I knew something that would help. And that was finding my dear uncle and kicking his ass from here to the far end of High Moon.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  The blood moon continued to bathe the streets an eerie color, but it at least made traversing them much easier. This whole mess would have been a lot harder if I was tripping over things every five seconds. Super strength was awesome, but I sure as hell wouldn’t have said no to night vision. Mind you, I wouldn’t have said no to laser eyes, or the ability to kill enemies with my thoughts either. But we work with what we have.

  Fortunately, I didn’t need a good sense of smell or super tracking abilities to home in on my quarry. Seemed they couldn’t go five minutes without one of them howling at the moon, and once one of them did, a bunch more joined in.

  I tried to focus on the direction where the largest concentration of howls seemed to be coming from, because I had a feeling that’s where Craig would be. No real reason, but if I were the one calling the shots, I’d want to make sure I was in the middle where everyone could hear me calling them.

  Focused didn’t mean heartless, though. I’d barely gone two blocks before the sound of wood splintering caught my ear, followed by a cry of terror.

  It was close, too close for me to ignore.

  Though I couldn’t move quite as quickly as I had earlier, not without tearing my already aching stomach to shreds, I hoofed it as best I could.

  I’d handed out most of those silver spikes but had kept one for myself. It definitely made me feel a bit better to have it. Besides, if there was anything that was going to help me even the odds, it was shoving one of those in a werewolf, preferably where the sun didn’t shine.

  My heart immediately leapt into my throat as I realized the source of the cries was coming from a familiar single-story ranch-style house, or at least one I’d hoped to make familiar.

  No!

  I hadn’t seen Gary since our aborted date. His absence at the Main Street standoff had me hoping he’d chosen this night to be somewhere – anywhere – else.

  The broken front door, however, told a different story.

  I was split between caution and wanting to race in screaming his name, but I forced down my panic and instead focused on anger instead. Because if so much as a hair on his near-perfect head was harmed, then the werewolf responsible was going to wish it had turned itself in to the dog pound.

  “Who’s there? Stay back! I’m warning you!”

  The sound of his voice from further in the house almost caused me to whoop with joy, but then I remembered I was supposed to be incognito. I readjusted my mask, making sure it was on straight, then crept in.

  The lights were out but the place was small. It didn’t appear there were too many spots for a monster wolf to hide. A beam of light from a few rooms down caught my attention.

  There, in a back room, I found Gary. He was standing with a baseball bat in one hand and a flashlight in the other, protectively guarding ... a woman and two small children?

  What the?

  I stood dumbfounded in the doorway for several seconds, trying to take this in. After a moment more, I noted the conspicuous lack of werewolves in the house, but it was as if it were a secondary concern – like that was the least interesting thing going on right at that moment.

  “What happened?” I was seriously confused at the sight before me, but coherent enough to at least remember to lower my voice an octave or two. The kids looked absolutely terrified, which helped snap me out of my fugue. “It’s okay, I’m not one of them. I’m wearing this because ... I’m sorta like a superhero.” I quickly stuffed the silver spike into my belt to help ease the tension in the room a bit.

  That seemed to calm the children down, even if the two adults continued to have wild-eyed looks about them.

  “That thing ... I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gary said at last.

  I kept my hands out in what I hoped was a placating manner. “Believe me, I understand. Um ... where did it go? Did it hurt anyone? Are you and ... your sister okay?”

  “Sister?” Gary shook his head after a second, as if incorrectly deciding that wasn’t the important part of my question. “No. That thing broke in here, snarling like a wild animal. I was helping my girlfriend put the kids to bed when it happened. We grabbed them up quick as we could and I told them to get behind me. I thought that thing was going to tear us to pieces.”

  “Girlfriend ... as in someone else who’s not here?”

  “No, he means me,” the w
oman replied in a rather snotty voice.

  I did my best to throw her some shade through my mask. “Of course he did.”

  As the sense of unreality gave way to smoldering anger, a small part of me vaguely wondered how long it would take before I got tired of punching them both in the face. But then I glanced past them at the kids again. They were terrified but alive. Everyone here was. Sure, Gary deserved a kick to the balls when next I saw him, but at least he was intact to get them kicked. I tried damn hard to convince myself that was the important thing. “So, what happened ... err, I mean the werewolf. Did you beat it off or something?”

  Oh yeah, real slick.

  “It just stopped,” Gary said, my obvious discomfort flying way over his head. “It looked at us, then let out a howl and ran back out the way it had come.”

  Hmm. More fuel to my theory that not all of them wanted to be here.

  I turned around and prepared to get out of there before I said something that gave away my identity ... or he said something that would cause me to kick his cheating motherfucker ass. But then I stopped and looked back as I remembered Chief Johnson’s plan. “The chief of police is rounding people up. They’re going door to door to get everyone over to Saint Matthews. Keep an eye out for them.”

  “I have my truck.”

  “Stay here until they come get you. There’s a lot of those things out there and you don’t want to run into one that’s less discerning about who it eats.” I paused for a moment. “Also, I passed your truck on the way in, and I think that monster got to it first.”

  I left without saying another word – just turned around, stepped out of the house, and walked away.

  But first I kicked his front tire hard enough to shatter the axle.

  I was glad to see that Gary was okay, but that didn’t mean he was getting off the hook so easily.

  CHAPTER 35

  Working to track down the bulk of the pack, I considered what I’d learned at Gary’s place.

  No, not that he was a cheating asshole with a whore girlfriend. That didn’t require much thought. What I tried to focus on was the wolf attack or lack thereof. Though it was possible that the werewolf knew Gary, in his human guise anyway, I thought it equally likely that they’d seen the kids and had a change of heart.

  It gave me hope that I was right and there were others here like Melissa, those who weren’t entirely comfortable with their leader’s orders to pillage and burn to their heart’s content.

  If so, then my plan to kick Craig’s ass and order the rest of them to leave might have a chance in hell of working.

  I put a bit more spring into my step as a chorus of howls rose up in the distance, wincing as my stomach protested. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad now. Perhaps my own enhanced healing had gotten a chance to kick in. Either that or my brain was so awash in adrenaline that I just didn’t care.

  Somewhere behind me the sound of sirens rose up again, telling me that the chief was hard at work putting his plan into motion.

  That was good, especially if my part didn’t pan out. The chief was smart, competent, and apparently as unfazed by this shit as a human being could get. He hadn’t questioned a damned thing he’d seen. Had merely taken it in stride and worked it into his defense strategy. Don’t get me wrong, it was a lot better than some skeptic thinking that maybe they were dealing with swamp gas or some other bullshit rational explanation. At the same time, perhaps I’d best be coy around him in the future lest he put two and two together and figure out I was his mysterious Ninja Girl.

  Ugh! I also made a note to not let Chris ever hear me called that. The little shit burger would never let me live it down.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  As I continued onward, walking down familiar streets toward what sounded like the center of werewolf activity, I noticed a lot of frightened people out on their front porches. Many were no doubt curious as to what was going on. Some were kind enough to call me over to offer sanctuary in their homes, while others warned me to stay away. A good many were armed. Though I didn’t have time to start ringing doorbells like I was on a Halloween candy bender, I did try to tell everyone I saw of the chief’s plan.

  Curious enough, for a time I saw fewer and fewer werewolves the further I got from Main Street. Most were from a distance, running from homes they’d invaded or simply disappearing into the shadows before I could chase them.

  It was strange. Had Craig called off the attack? Had he figured that he’d made his point, so enough was enough? Were we destined to play this whole thing out again next month ... with maybe a new fiancé picked out for me and the threat that this time was merely a warning? That didn’t seem a wise strategy, but then, Craig hadn’t exactly struck me as Mensa material.

  No, that wasn’t it because I never stopped hearing them. Even though I didn’t see them, the pack’s howls grew ever louder as I continued walking.

  Then, all at once it seemed, I found them again. It was like I crossed the street and stepped into a nightmare. One moment I was getting curious glances from people looking out their doorways. The next, there were snarls, the sound of splintering wood, and large shapes looming in the shadows.

  I glanced around and suddenly it made sense. Craig had pulled the bulk of his pack away from the main thoroughfare – and source of resistance – and had them converge on a different part of town, one that should have been obvious to me from the start. Whether subconsciously or not, I’d been heading in the direction of my home ever since setting out from Chief Johnson and his brave defenders, essentially retracing my steps.

  And here now, only a few blocks away, did it finally sink in. What better place for my uncle to focus his wrath? Not only was the resistance here minimal, a few unlucky souls trying to defend what was theirs, but it allowed him to concentrate his spite on the place where the leader of his enemies lived.

  I had a sinking feeling that there would be more than just some creepy garden gnomes waiting for me when I got home this time.

  But first, I had to get there.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Luckily for me, it seemed that once the battle of Main Street was over, most of the wolves decided to ditch their firearms in favor of good old-fashioned monster carnage, otherwise my night would have probably ended far sooner than I hoped.

  Conserving my strength, I tried to pick my battles as I fought my way toward my house. If a wolf ran from me, I let it go, especially since I wasn’t in much condition to give chase anyway. If one came straight at me, though, I took it out with extreme prejudice.

  Thankfully, the vast majority seemed to favor that first strategy. Even if they didn’t know the truth of what I was, it seemed many understood what I could do. For any who didn’t get the memo, dispatching them with a silver stake through the chest or skull ended up being a really good way of dissuading any others nearby.

  Even so, the continued action was slowly taking its toll. I was pretty sure my stomach was preparing to call its lawyer and serve divorce papers to the rest of my body. Likewise, I could have started a collection with the number of bruises I’d managed to sustain. In short, I was injured and close to exhausted by the time I stepped onto my street.

  Or at least I thought it was my block. It more resembled a small slice of Americana as pictured through the eyes of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Doors were kicked in, fences knocked over, cars overturned – some burning. Hell, a few of the homes looked like they’d been outright bulldozed.

  I didn’t even want to think about what had happened to the people inside.

  From what I could see, it appeared only one structure remained wholly intact – my house. It stood untouched in its lot near the middle of the street, even as the sounds of destruction filled the air from the homes around it.

  Standing on the sidewalk and looking up at my home was Craig. He was easy to tell from the others ... larger and a lot scarier-looking. Even in silhouette from half a block away I could identify him.

  What was he doing? Was he saving my home
for last or...

  I chuckled to myself. Or was this my mother’s doing? Had she left some nasty surprises for him, knowing he’d eventually end up here? Knowing Mom, I wasn’t about to discount that.

  All night long, I’d been bemoaning what a spiteful asshole my uncle was but, to be fair, Mom hadn’t struck me as an amateur in that arena either. She...

  Fuck!

  A wolf rushed me as I walked toward where Craig stood. I should have expected it. The entire place was crawling with monsters, but I’d been so focused on him that I let my guard down.

  I managed to block with my shoulder in the moment before the beast hit, cushioning some of the blow, but it still took me off my feet.

  The wolf carried me about ten yards, onto the front lawn of one of our neighbors – the Cavendaugh place judging by the look of things. Not the most friendly family to ever grace this Earth, but not so bad that they deserved to have their home invaded by monsters.

  That was all the time I could spare to them, however, as I was sent sprawling onto the grass. I hit the ground hard and the silver spike went flying out of my hands, tumbling away into the darkness.

  Fuck me!

  The wolf fell atop me and my stomach screamed in agony. The creature must have noticed my grimace because it lifted its head and chuffed in that strange wolf laugh they seemed to like to do. Then it plunged forward with its teeth, no doubt looking to ease my pain permanently.

  Pity that it underestimated me. Trying to grapple a grappler was a dicey proposition, especially for creatures who were mostly top-heavy like these things. However, being that there was no referee here to count it out, I didn’t see much use in going for a pin ... or playing by the rules, for that matter.